SERIES  XXXIll 


No.   2 


JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES 

IN 

Historical  and  Political  Science 

Under  the  Direction  of  the 

Departments  of  History,  Political  Economy,  and 

Political  Science 


THE  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTEUTION 
OF  THE  COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA 


BY 


PERCY  SCOTT  FLIPPIN,  Ph.D. 
Professor  of  History  and  Economics  in  Central  University  of  Kentucky 


BALTIMORE 
THE  JOHNS   HOPKINS  PRESS 

1915 


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THE  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION 
OF  THE  COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA 


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SERIES  XXXIII  NO.  2 

JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES 

IN 

Historical  and  Political  Science 

Under  the  Direction  of  the 

Departments  of  History,  Political  Economy,  and 

Political  Science 


JHE  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION 
OF  THE  COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA 


BY 


PERCY  SCOTT^FLIPPIN,  Ph.D. 
Professor  of  History  and  Economics  in  Central  University  of  Kentucky 


BALTIMORE 
THE  JOHNS   HOPKINS  PRESS 

1915 


M 


Copyright  19 15  by 
THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  PRESS 


PRESS  OF 

THE  NEW  ERA  PRINTfNQ  COMPANY 

LANCASTER.  PA. 


HO 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface vii 

Revenues  and  Taxation 9 

Royal  Collectors 21 

Naval  Officers 28 

Comptrollers  of  the  Customs 32 

Surveyors-General  of  the  Customs 34 

Searchers   36 

Auditor 37 

Receiver-General    41 

Collectors  of  the  Duty  on  Skins  and  Furs 44 

Collectors  of  the  Duty  on  Liquors 45 

Collectors  of  the  Duty  on  Slaves 45 

Collectors  of  the  Duty  on  Servants 47 

Treasurer    47 

Inspectors  of  Tobacco 50 

Pilots    54 

Postmaster 55 

English  Merchants 58 

Governmental  Expenses  68 

Efficiency  of  the  Financial  System 81 

Bibliography   84 


PREFACE 

Throughout  the  colonial  period  the  financial  condition  of 
Virginia  was  a  subject  of  much  concern  to  the  British  gov- 
ernment, and  especially  to  the  English  merchants,  with 
whom  the  government  cooperated.  Commercial  and  eco- 
nomic success  was  the  object  sought  by  the  merchants,  and 
also  by  the  government,  which  was  endeavoring  to  perpet- 
uate and  to  make  more  secure  its  control  of  the  colony.  The 
colonists  themselves  were  quite  naturally  deeply  interested 
in  the  financial  system  gradually  worked  out  for  them  by  the 
British  government  and  the  officials  of  the  colony.  There 
was  a  system  of  royal  revenues,  which  were  collected  by  offi- 
cials holding  royal  commissions;  these  men  were  generally 
paid  for  their  services  out  of  those  revenues,  but  in  a  few 
cases  they  were  paid  partly  out  of  the  British  exchequer. 
There  was  also  a  system  of  provincial  revenues,  which  were 
collected  by  officials  holding  commissions  from  the  governor 
or  from  other  local  authorities.  A  study  of  the  customs 
duties  and  other  royal  revenues,  of  the  provincial  revenues 
and  the  system  of  taxation,  the  various  officials  concerned 
with  their  collection  and  expenditure,  and  of  the  govern- 
mental expenses  furnishes  the  information  necessary  for 
determining  the  efficiency  of  the  financial  system  of  the 
colony. 

It  was  not  until  very  late  in  the  colonial  period  that  the 
question  of  political  rights  was  generally  agitated.  The  colo- 
nists were  desirous  of  remaining  under  Great  Britain,  and 
were  satisfied  as  long  as  the  commercial  and  financial  policy 
of  that  government  did  not  become  oppressive.  There  was 
no  objection  to  royal  officials  as  such,  for  when  the  spirit  of 
discontent  did  assert  itself,  the  trouble  could  be  usually  traced 
to  the  effort  of  the  British  government  to  interfere  with  the 
economic  and  financial  affairs  of  the  colony. 

This  study  of  the  financial  system  constitutes  one  of  the 
chapters  of  a  monograph  on  the  Royal  Government  in  Vir- 
ginia, which  it  is  my  purpose  to  publish  later. 

P.  S.  F. 


THE  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE 
COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA 


Revenues  and  Taxation. — Three  methods  of  raising  money 
existed  in  the  colony, — the  duties  on  trade,  the  tax  on  land, 
and  the  poll  tax.  Thus  the  revenue  system  in  Virginia  was 
quite  similar  to  that  in  England,  where  there  were  customs 
duties,  land  taxes,  and  poll  taxes.  When  the  control  of  the 
colony  was  changed  from  proprietary  to  royal  in  1624,  the 
customs  duty  on  tobacco  from  Virginia  paid  in  England  by 
the  importer  was  even  then  of  much  consequence.^  There 
were  really  two  duties  on  exported  tobacco, — the  two  shil- 
lings per  hogshead  paid  by  the  shipper  in  the  colony,  and  the 
English  customs  paid  by  the  importer  in  England.  One  of 
the  chief  sources  of  revenue  in  the  colony  was  this  duty  of 
two  shillings  per  hogshead  on  exported  tobacco,  first  im- 
posed in  March,  1657/8,  by  the  Assembly.^  By  1680  the 
governor  (Culpeper)  had  this  duty  made  permanent,  and 
instead  of  being  accounted  to  the  Assembly  as  formerly,  it 
was  to  be  considered  a  royal  revenue.^  It  was  appropriated 
for  governmental  expenses,  being  used  for  paying  the  sala- 
ries of  the  governor  and  other  officials  of  the  colony  and  for 
the  usual  contingent  charges  of  the  government,  and  was  the 

1  In  1624  the  annual  revenue  paid  by  the  English  importers  into 
the  royal  treasury  from  the  duty  on'  tobacco  was  £90,000,  while  in 
1674  it  was  f  100,000.  In  1624  tobacco  commanded  a  higher  price  in 
England  than  in  1674,  and  the  duty  was  higher  also.  These  facts 
evidently  account  for  the  similarity  in  the  amounts  just  mentioned, 
although  more  tobacco  was  raised  and  much  more  imported  into 
England  in  1674  (Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Colonial  Series,  1669- 
1674,  no-  1159;  P.  A.  Bruce,  Institutional  History  of  Virginia  in  the 
Seventeenth.  Century,  vol.  ii,  p.  590). 

2  W.  W.  Hening,  Statutes  at  Large,  vol.  i,  pp.  491,  523 ;  vol.  ii, 
p.  130.. 

3  William  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  i,  p.  62. 


10  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION   OF  [l86 

principal  fund  upon  which  the  governor  depended.^  The 
amount  realized  from  this  revenue  was  £2500  in  1676,  and 
by  1680  it  was  about  £3000.^  The  cost  of  collection  was 
twenty-seven  per  cent  of  the  whole  amount.  There  was  only 
a  very  gradual  increase  in  the  net  sum  realized,®  but  by  1750 
this  revenue  amounted  to  £5000,  and  by  1760  to  £7000 
annually.'^ 

The  castle  duty,  first  imposed  in  February,  1631/2,  of  one 
pound  of  powder  and  one  pound  of  shot  on  every  ton  of 

*  The  Official  Records  of  Robert  Dinwiddie,  vol.  i,  p.  353.  Cited 
as  Dinwiddie  Papers.     Colonial  Office  Papers,  5 :  15,  585. 

5  William  Blathwayt  to  Lords  of  Treasury,  in  Blathwayt's  Jour- 
nal, vol.  i,  p.  62.  British  Museum,  Additional  MSS.,  no.  30372,  p.  46. 
^  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  pp.  27,  29,  63,  147,  207,  291 ;  vol.  iii, 
p.  84. 

Receiver-General's  Account  of  Two  Shillings 
Per  Hogshead  Revenue 

October  25,  1714-April  25,  1715 

Receipts 
L  s.  d. 

926  8  6Y4r 

Disbursements 

i.       s.       d. 

By  balance  of  last  account  due  Receiver-General 1070      9    iiyi 

Salary  of  Governor                                  (six  months)  1000 

Rent  of  Governor's  house                          "          "  75 

Salary  of  Council                                         "          "  175 

"      "    Auditor-General                          "          "  50 

"      "    Solicitor  of  Virginia  Affairs  "         "  50 

"      "    Attorney-General                        "          "  20 

"      "    Clerk  of  Council                         "          "  50 

"      "    Gunner  at  Jamestown               "          "  5 

"      "    Armorer                                       "          "  6 

Minister  attending  Assembly   10 

Contingent  charges   38      7      6 

Naval  Officers      10%  (£810.  2s.  2^d.)  81             2^2 

Auditor                  5%  (£845.  8s.  3^d.) 42      5      AVa 

Receiver-General   5%       "     "       "      ) 42      5      4^ 

2715     8     sy2 
926      8      6^ 

Excess  of  Expenditures 1788    19    11^ 

This  account  was  signed  by  the  receiver-general,  the  auditor,  and  the 
governor  (W.  Blathwayt,  Virginia  Papers,  MS.). 

'^C.  O.  5:  216,  8;  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  271. 


187]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  II 

cargo  imported,  was  lowered  in  1633  to  one  fourth  of  a 
pound  of  each,  and  in  1645  was  fixed  at  one  half  a  pound 
of  each.  In  1662  it  was  raised  to  three  pounds,  but  the  master 
of  the  ship  had  the  option  of  paying  this  duty  in  money  at 
the  rate  of  one  shilling  three  pence  on  every  ton  of  cargo. 
Before  1680  it  was  paid  to  the  captain  of  the  fort  at  Point 
Comfort  as  compensation  for  his  services,  but  after  that 
date  it  was  appropriated  to  the  support  of  the  government.' 
It  was  then  known  as  port  duty. 

Revenues  were  also  derived  from  the  fines  and  forfeitures 
imposed  by  act  of  Parliament  or  act  of  Assembly  for  breach 
of  penal  law,  contempt  of  court,  and  conviction  for  felony 
or  trespass;  from  a  fee  for  the  right  of  taking  up  land, 
which  was  five  shillings  for  every  fifty  acres  for  which  a 
grant  was  issued ;  and  from  a  fee  of  two  shillings  per  acre 
for  escheated  land.  These  revenues,  including  the  duty  of 
two  shillings  per  hogshead  on  exported  tobacco,  were  esti- 
mated by  Governor  Gooch  about  1735  at  £5000,  by  Gover- 
nor Dinwiddie  in  1755  at  ^6500,  and  by  Governor  Fauquier 
in  1763  at  i/ooo  annually,^  and  were  all  appropriated  to  the 
support  of  the  government. 

In  addition  to  the  revenues  already  mentioned  was  the 
quit-rent.  All  land  in  the  colony  was  claimed  by  the  king, 
and  those  who  held  it  were  required  to  pay  an  annual  rent 
to  him  of  one  shilling  for  every  fifty  acres.^*'  The  quit-rent, 
which  was  imposed  in  January,  1639/40,  was  at  first  not  re- 
quired to  be  paid  until  seven  years  after  the  grant  had  been 
obtained.  As  this  ruling  had  a  tendency  to  encourage  the 
acquisition  of  more  land  than  could  be  cultivated,  the  privi- 

8  Hening,  vol.  i,  pp.  176,  192,  218,  247,  301,  312,  423;  vol.  ii,  pp.  9, 
134,  '^'77,  466;  vol.  iii,  pp.  345,  491;  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and 
Biography,  vol.  iii,  p.  121 ;  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  i,  p.  389. 

8  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  iii,  p.  121 ;  Din- 
widdie Papers,  vol.  i,  p.  389;  British  Museum,  King's  MSS.,  no.  205, 
P-  514- 

10  The  only  exception  was  in  the  case  of  those  holding  land  in  the 
Northern  Neck  (between  the  Rappahannock  and  Potomac  Rivers), 
which  was  granted  to  Culpeper  and  his  heirs.  This  grant  was  re- 
voked, but  the  quit-rents  were  retained  by  Culpeper,  by  royal  per- 
mission. 


12  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [l88 

lege  was  revoked  in  the  instructions  to  Berkeley  in  1662  and 
also  in  those  to  later  governors.^^  In  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury quit-rents  were  paid  in  tobacco,  but  by  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century  they  were  paid  in  either  tobacco  or 
current  money.^^  Although  there  was  some  opposition  to 
this  revenue  and  frequent  evasion  of  it,  the  collections 
showed  a  gradual  increase.  In  1684,  for  example,  £574  was 
collected,  and  in  1703,  ^1843,  the  total  paid  in  the  quit-rents 
during  this  time  being  £22,41 8.^^  This  period — about  the 
middle  of  the  colonial  era — seems  to  be  typical  with  refer- 
ence to  the  income  from  this  source.  In  1703  £5743  was 
still  held  as  a  surplus,  £3000  of  which  was,  by  royal  order, 
transmitted  to  the  British  exchequer.^*  From  1704  to  1710 
the  collections  of  the  quit-rents  amounted  to  £14,719,  £13,- 
917  of  which  was  paid  into  the  exchequer.^^  In  171 5  this 
revenue  produced  about  £1500  a  year;  by  1740  the  annual 
income  was  £3500,  and  by  1760,  £6000.  In  1751  the  col- 
lections, including  some  arrears,  amounted  to  £16,433.^^ 

^1  Hening,  vol.  i,  pp.  228,  280;  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and 
Biography,  vol.  iii,  p.  15 ;  Instructions  to  the  governors. 

12  Hening,  vol.  i,  p.  316;  vol.  iv,  pp.  41,  79;  vol.  vi,  pp.  168,  171; 
vol.  viii,  p.  103. 

13  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  p.  356. 

i^Ibid.,  p.  318.  Virginia  and  New  York  were  the  only  colonies  in 
which  the  quit-rents  were  accounted  for  to  the  crown  (Cal.  St.  P. 
Treas.  Books  and  Papers,  1731-1734.  no.  201). 

15  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  iii,  p.  84. 

i«  C.  O.  5:  216,  8;  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  xxv,  p.  215; 
Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  1756-1758,  p.  513. 

Receiver-General's  Account  of  the  Quit-Rents 
April  25,  1713-April  25,  17 14 

Receipts 

Collections  (including  £35.  lis.  4d.  for  land  escheated 

£       s.     d. 
to  king)    2145      6      I 

Disbursements 

£  s.       d. 

Remitted  to  British  exchequer 880  7        5 

Expense  of  remitting  the  above   4         8 

Salary  of  Commissary  (one  year) 100 

"      "    Attorney-General  "  60 


189]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  1 3 

The  relation  of  the  quit-rents  to  the  expenses  of  the  col- 
ony, and  the  necessity  of  occasional  drafts  upon  this  revenue 
in  order  to  meet  them,  was  shown  in  a  letter  of  May  30, 
1717,  from  Spotswood  to  the  Board  of  Trade.  Spotswood 
requested  an  appropriation,  and  stated  that  the  revenue  de- 
rived from  the  duty  of  two  shillings  per  hogshead  on  tobacco 
lacked  ^1973.  los.  4d.  of  the  sum  needed  to  pay  the  salaries 

Salary  of  Sheriffs  (some  10%,  some  14%)   131  8  6 

"   Auditor,  5%          (iii33) 56  13  6 

"        "   Receiver-General        "       56  13  6 

1289  II  o 

2145         6        I 

1289        II        o 

Net  revenue  855        15        i 

April  25,  1716-April  25,  1717 

Receipts 

£       s.        d. 
Surplus        (April  25,  1716) 2899    16      7^ 

Collections  {    «        ."    ,  "    |  ^^43     19      f^-^oney 

I  1717  i  370     3     Sn — tobacco 

Arrears  (1712-1715)  _j9^ 16      8^ 

4905^6  14 

Arrears  for  1715  "I 294    15  9^— money 

paid  in  1716  J 100      2  11J/2 — tobacco 

Arrears  for  1714  \ 178      7  7    —money 

paid  in  1716  ) 67    13  loj^— tobacco 

5546    16      3^ 
Disbursements  1780    14    11^ 

Net  revenue 3766      i      4 

Disbursements 

£       s.      d. 
Quit-rents  for  1714  carried  to  account  of  two  shil- 
lings per  hhd.  revenue.    Apr.  25-Oct.  25,  1716 1022      5     iij/^ 

Negotiating  bills  for  above 5      2      2^ 

Salary  of  Commissary  (one  year) 100 

"      "    Attorney-General         "       "      60 

Solicitor  of  Virginia  Affairs,  additional  salary 150 

Allow^ance  to  sheriffs  and  the  people  by  the  order  of 

the  government 198      9      9^^ 

Salary  of  Auditor,  5% 122      8      sH 

Salary  of  Receiver-General,  5%  122      8      sH 

1780    14     iiJ4 

The  accounts  virere  signed  by  the  receiver-general,  the  auditor,  and 
the  governor  (Blathwayt,  Virginia  Papers,  MS.). 


14  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION    OF  [19O 

for  the  preceding  year;  that  the  usual  expenses  amounted 
to  about  ^3500,  and  that  there  was  ^3766.  is.  4d.  to  the 
credit  of  the  quit-rent  account.^^  Three  officials  were  regu- 
larly paid  by  royal  warrant  out  of  the  quit-rents, — the  com- 
missary, the  attorney-general,  and  the  solicitor  of  Virginia 
affairs ;  and  a  fourth,  the  auditor-general,  was  added  to  the 
list  near  the  close  of  the  colonial  period. 

While  it  was  necessary  on  some  occasions  to  appropriate 
a  part  of  this  revenue  for  the  support  of  the  government  of 
the  colony,  the  quit-rents  were  regularly  sent  to  England.^® 
The  following  instances  are  indicative  of  the  constant  prac- 
tice of  the  colony .^^  In  1714,  upon  royal  warrant  for  this 
purpose,  £855.  15s.  id.,  the  balance  of  the  quit-rents  for  the 
year,  was  remitted.^"  Upon  a  warrant  under  the  sign  man- 
ual of  the  king  of  July  19,  1720,  the  receiver-general  was 
directed  to  remit  by  bills  of  exchange  £6791.  7s.  7d.,  the 
balance  of  the  quit-rents  for  17 19  and  the  surplus.^^  When 
this  revenue  reached  the  royal  exchequer,  it  was  not  con- 
sidered as  a  surplus  held  there  for  the  future  needs  of  the 
colony.  For  example,  the  quit-rents  were  used  on  one  occa- 
sion at  least  for  the  royal  service  in  the  West  Indies,  and  on 
another  for  paying  the  chief  engraver  of  seals  for  seals  made 
for  the  colonies  in  America;  on  another,  for  purchasing  a 
way  through  King  Street  to  Parliament  House  in  London, 
and  again  for  the  allowance  of  ^150  a  year  to  the  auditor- 
general  of  the  colonies  for  office  expenses.^^  Some  special 
service  connected  with  the  colony  was  occasionally  paid  for 
out  of  this  revenue,  such  as  the  running  of  the  boundary  line 
between  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  for  which  iiooo  was 
allotted.^^    A  few  other  instances  of  special  appropriation  in 


1'^  Official  Letters  of  Alexander  Spotswood,  vol.  ii,  p.  247.  Cited  as 
Spotswood  Letters. 

1^  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  pp.  391,  469;  vol.  iii,  p.  64. 

18  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  pp.  94,  96; 
1721-1734,  p.  59;  ibid.,  Extra  Session,  May  3,  1743;  Dinwiddie  Papers, 
vol.  ii,  pp.  575,  576,  580;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1689-1692,  no.  1479. 

20  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  226. 

21  Ibid.,  p.  351. 

22  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books  and  Papers,  1729-1730,  no.  128,  p.  235, 
no.  146;  1739-1741,  p.  365. 


igi]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  1 5 

addition  to  the  occasional  use  of  the  quit-rents  for  local  ex- 
penses were  the  iiooo  allowed  in  1710  for  aiding  the  British 
expedition  to  Canada,  £500  for  helping  New  York  against 
the  French  and  Indians  and  also  for  building  fortifications 
in  Virginia  in  1693,  £500  for  rebuilding  William  and  Mary 
College  in  1709,  £250  for  a  special  journey  to  South  Carolina 
in  the  interest  of  Virginia,  £1260  for  negotiating  an  Indian 
treaty  (Treaty  of  Lancaster,  1744),  £1320  for  negotiating 
a  treaty  with  the  Catawbas  and  Cherokees  in  1756,  and  other 
appropriations  for  similar  treaties  and  also  for  presents  for 
the  Indians.^*  No  allotments  whatever  were  to  be  made 
from  this  revenue  without  royal  warrant. 

Another  source  of  revenue  was  the  customs  duties.  There 
was  a  duty  of  one  penny  a  pound  on  tobacco  exported  from 
Virginia  and  Maryland  to  any  other  American  colony, 
known  as  the  plantation  duty,  which  was  laid  by  Parliament 
in  1672  and  granted  by  the  king  in  1692  to  William  and  Mary 
College;  it  amounted  to  about  £200  a  year.^^  The  duty  on 
exported  skins  and  furs,  paid  by  the  exporter,  which  ranged 
from  three  farthings  to  two  shillings,  or  five  shillings  for 
tanned  hides,  was  first  imposed  in  1691  by  the  Assembly  and 
appropriated  for  the  support  of  William  and  Mary  College. 
It  amounted  about  1700  to  nearly  £300  a  year.^®  The  plac- 
ing of  this  duty,  together  with  Indian  wars,  however, 
caused  the  fur  trade  to  decline  so  greatly  that  the  annual 
income  derived  from  this  revenue  was  later  not  more  than 
iioo.^^  The  duty  on  imported  liquors,  except  those  from 
England,  was  from  three  to  six  pence  a  gallon,  which  was 

23  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1721-1734,  pp.  215,  351. 

24  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1693-1696,  nos.  1683,  1715 ;  Journal  of  the  Board 
of  Trade,  vol.  ii,  p.  283;  vol.  iii,  p.  274;  vol.  v,  p.  175;  Blathwayt's 
Journal,  vol.  i,  p.  684;  vol.  ii,  p.  561;  vol.  iii,  p.  85;  Journal  of  the 
Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  288;  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Papers, 
1708-1714,  p.  94;  1742-174S,  p.  677;  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  465. 

25  H.  Hartwell,  J.  Blair,  and  E.  Chilton,  An  Account  of  the  Present 
State  and  Government  of  Virginia,  p.  60;  Journal  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  vol.  x,  pp.  219,  220. 

26  Hening,  vol.  iii,  pp.  63,  356;  vol.  iv,  p.  431 ;  vol.  v,  p.  236;  vol.  vi, 
p.  91 ;  vol.  vii,  p.  283 ;  vol.  viii,  p.  142. 

27  R.  Beverley,  The  History  of  Virginia,  p.  214;  Sainsbury  Papers, 
vol.  iii,  pp.  525,  530. 


l6  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION   OF  [^92 

appropriated  by  the  Assembly  of  1684  for  the  support  of  the 
government.^^  In  1726,  £200  annually  was  granted  out  of 
this  revenue  to  William  and  Mary  College,  and  in  1734  one 
penny  a  gallon,  or  one  fourth  of  the  revenue  at  that  time, 
was  given  to  the  college.^^ 

The  duty  on  slaves  brought  into  the  colony,  which  was 
levied  by  the  Assembly  in  1699  for  the  purpose  of  rebuild- 
ing the  capitol,  and  was  later  appropriated  for  the  support 
of  the  government,  was  twenty  shillings,  paid  by  the  im- 
porter, and,  for  a  brief  time,  six  pence  paid  by  the  master 
of  the  ship,  on  every  slave.  By  1732  this  duty  was  changed 
to  five  per  cent,  later  increased  to  twenty  per  cent,  of  the 
purchase  price  of  each  slave,  paid  by  the  purchaser  within 
forty  days  after  the  sale.  In  1772  a  special  duty  of  £$  a 
head  was  imposed  on  slaves  imported  from  the  West  Indies, 
Maryland,  Carolina,  or  any  other  American  colony.^"  The 
duties  on  liquors  and  slaves  amounted  in  1708  to  about  £2000 
a  year.^^  The  duty  on  servants,  which  was  imposed  by  the 
Assembly  in  1699  for  the  purpose  of  rebuilding  the  capitol, 
and  was  later  appropriated  for  the  support  of  the  govern- 
ment, was  fifteen  shillings,  paid  by  the  importer,  and  six 
pence,  paid  by  the  master  of  the  ship,  on  every  servant  im- 
ported. The  duty  on  servants  is  not  mentioned  in  the 
acts  of  Assembly  after  1710.^^  The  duty  on  passengers 
brought  into  the  colony,  imposed  by  the  Assembly  in  1662 
for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  additional  compensation  to  the 
captain  of  the  fort  at  Point  Comfort,  but  later  (1680)  ap- 
propriated for  the  support  of  the  government,  was  six  pence 
on  "every  person  imported,  not  being  a  mariner,"  paid  by 
the  master  of  the  ship.     This  regulation  must  have  included 

28  Hening,  vol.  iii,  pp.  23,  229;  vol.  iv,  pp.  144,  470;  vol.  v,  p.  311; 
vol.  VI,  pp.  194,  354;  vol.  vii,  pp.  133,  266,  274,  386;  vol.  viii,  pp.  38, 
335,  529. 

29  Ibid.,  vol.  iv,  pp.  148,  432;  vol.  v,  p.  317;  vol.  viii,  p.  335. 

30  Ibid.,  vol.  iii,  pp.  193,  233,  346,  492;  vol.  iv,  p.  317;  vol.  v,  p.  28; 
vol.  VI,  pp.  218,  419,  466 ;  vol.  vii,  p.  81 ;  vol.  viii,  pp.  338,  532. 

fi  Of  the  £4000  collected  for  the  years  i7o6-i7c^,  £3000  was  appro- 
priated for  building  the  governor's  house  (Calendar  of  Virginia  State 
Papers,  1652-1781,  vol.  i,  p.  124). 

32  Hening,  vol.  iii,  pp.  193,  346,  492. 


193]  THE   COLONY   OF  VIRGINIA  1/ 

servants  and  slaves  until  special  duties  were  imposed  for 
them.  The  duty  on  passengers  is  not  mentioned  in  the 
acts  of  Assembly  after  1710.^^ 

During  the  whole  colonial  period  neglect  and  fraud  were 
more  or  less  prevalent  in  connection  with  the  several  reve- 
nues. In  1640  the  secretary  of  the  colony,  Richard  Kemp, 
petitioned  the  king  to  be  allowed  to  go  to  England  in  order  to 
answer  the  unjust  charges  against  him  of  those  who  had 
been  defrauding  the  revenues  of  the  colony.^*  The  royal 
quit-rents  were  perhaps  more  often  evaded  than  any  other 
duties.'^  In  1 72 1,  however,  the  auditor-general  stated  to  the 
Board  of  Trade  that  they  were  in  good  condition  and  were 
increasing  in  value.^®  In  1753  Dinwiddie  estimated  that 
there  were  about  a  million  acres  of  land,  held  by  certain 
colonists,  on  which  no  quit-rents  had  been  paid.  This 
statement  was  no  doubt  made  largely  to  justify  his  action 
in  imposing  the  pistole  fee  ($3.60)  for  affixing  the  seal  of 
the  colony  to  land  grants. ^^  The  governor  laid  this  fee  in 
order  to  increase  his  perquisites,  but  he  could  not  collect  it. 
The  duty  on  tobacco  of  two  shillings  per  hogshead  was 
very  often  evaded,  and  the  governor  was  instructed  to  en- 
deavor to  prevent  frauds  and  abuses  in  the  collecting  of  this 
revenue.^^  Shipmasters  would  sometimes  evade  this  and 
other  duties  by  making  false  entries  as  to  their  lading,^^  an 
abuse  which  the  Council  sought  to  remedy  by  requiring  £500 
security  of  every  vessel.**'  Liquors  and  other  imports  were 
often  smuggled  into  the  colony  to  avoid  payment  of  the 

33  Hening,  vol.  ii,  pp.  135,  466 ;  vol.  iii,  pp.  346,  492. 

34  Sainsbury  Papers,  1640-1691,  p.  4. 

35  Ibid.,  1691-1697,  p.  350;  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS., 
1721-1734,  p.  414;  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  x,  p.  266:  Cal. 
St.  P.  Col.  1681-1685,  no.  203. 

38  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  xxxi,  p.  152. 

37  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  ii,  pp.  363,  370,  374,  410. 

38  P.  A.  Bruce,  Economic  History  of  Virginia  in  the  Seventeenth 
Century,  vol.  i,  p.  452;  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  xxxvi,  p. 
355;  Instructions  to  the  governors  from  Nicholson  (1702)  to  Dun- 
more  (1771). 

'8  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  iii,  pp.  306,  338;  vol.  x,  p. 
218;  vol.  xliii,  p.  58. 
^o  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1689-1692,  no.  1324. 
2 


1 8  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [194 

duty.*^  Not  only  the  planters  and  masters  of  ships,  but  even 
the  revenue  officials  themselves  were  sometimes  guilty  of 
defrauding  the  government  by  evading  the  duties.*^ 

A  letter  from  the  Council  of  Virginia  regarding  the  frauds 
in  the  customs,  sent  to  the  Board  of  Trade  in  1733,  was  re- 
ferred to  the  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  having 
charge  of  such  investigations.^^  When  the  matter  was  under 
discussion  in  the  House  of  Commons,  the  commissioners  of 
the  customs  stated  that  the  total  amount  of  such  evasion  was 
£30,000  or  £40,000  a  year.  This  estimate,  however,  included 
not  only  the  evasion  in  all  the  colonies,  but  also  all  the  frauds 
connected  with  the  customs  in  England.**  It  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  ascertain  the  exact  amount  for  Virginia  alone. 

The  instructions  to  the  governors  from  Nicholson  (1702) 
to  Dunmore  (1771)  made  special  mention  of  the  frauds  in 
the  customs  of  the  plantation  trade,  and  insisted  upon  the 
greatest  care  to  prevent  them.  It  was  stated  that  such 
abuses  "  must  needs  arise  either  from  the  insolvency  of  per- 
sons who  are  accepted  for  security,  or  from  the  remissness 
or  connivance  of  such  as  have  been  or  are  governors  in 
the  several  plantations."  This  clause  had  reference  to 
Virginia  as  well  as  to  the  other  British  colonies  and  was 
therefore  included  in  the  above  instructions.  Though  it 
was  said  that  the  governor  was  perhaps  partly  responsible 
for  this  condition  of  affairs,  and  that  should  he  fail  to 
endeavor  to  prevent  a  continuance  thereof  his  commis- 
sion would  be  forfeited,  no  governor  of  Virginia  was  re- 
moved for  this  offense.  In  addition  to  the  formal  instruc- 
tions there  were  additional  instructions  and  circular  letters 
sent  to  the  governor  from  time  to  time  for  the  purpose  of 
preventing  illegal  trading  and  evasion  of  the  customs.  A 
circular  letter  of  June  21,  1768,  sent  to  practically  all  the 
governors  in  the  American  colonies  and  in  the  West  Indies, 

*i  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  202. 

*2  Spotswood  Letters,  vol.  i,  p.  103 ;  vol.  ii,  p.  176. 

*3  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  xliii,  p.  58. 

**  St.  G.  L.  Sioussat,  "  Virginia  and  the  English  Commercial  Sys- 
tem," in  Report  of  the  American  Historical  Association,  1905,  vol. 
i,  p.  90. 


195]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  1 9 

requested  suggestions  as  to  any  needed  changes  in  the  "  gen- 
eral instructions,"  with  special  reference  to  revenues,  and 
stated  that  "  the  little  improvement  which  has  been  made  in 
his  majesty's  revenue  of  quit  rents,  notwithstanding  the 
rapid  progress  of  settlement,  shows  that  either  the  instruc- 
tions given,  relative  to  this  object,  are  imperfect  or  inade- 
quate or  that  there  has  not  been  sufficient  attention  given  to 
the  due  execution  of  them."^°  Though  there  were  evasions 
of  the  quit-rents  in  Virginia,  this  revenue  amounted  to  more 
there  than  this  circular  letter  would  indicate. 

Every  law  enacted  by  the  Assembly  that  was  concerned 
with  the  revenues,  both  royal  and  provincial,  carried  with  it 
a  penalty  for  violation,  and  special  provision  was  made  for 
preventing,  if  possible,  any  irregularities  on  the  part  of  the 
officials.  The  Assembly  honestly  endeavored  to  prevent  the 
evasion  of  the  revenues,  but  the  laws  were  not  strictly 
enforced. 

In  addition  to  the  revenues  already  considered,  there  was 
a  system  of  taxation  by  poll  for  raising  the  public,  county, 
and  parish  levies.  A  poll  tax,  known  as  a  public  levy,  was 
laid  every  session  by  the  House  of  Burgesses  through  the 
committee  of  claims,  to  which  all  public  claims  were  re- 
ferred. This  revenue  was  used  for  the  expenses  of  the 
meeting  of  the  Assembly,  for  paying  the  militia,  for  the 
erection  of  the  capitol,  the  execution  of  criminals,  the  cap- 
ture of  runaway  servants  and  slaves,  and  all  such  public 
claims.*^  The  public  levy  was,  therefore,  not  uniform,  but 
varied  from  year  to  year.  It  was  usually  about  15  or  20 
pounds  of  tobacco  for  each  tithable.*^  From  1624  to  1775  the 
smallest  levy  imposed  was  t,%  pounds,  and  the  largest  was 
89  pounds.  In  addition  to  the  usual  public  levy,  extra  levies 
were  imposed  for  meeting  such  an  emergency  as  war. 

*5  C.  O.  5 :  241,  79. 

*^  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  1700-1702,  pp.  218-220, 
229-230.  G.  Webb,  The  Office  and  Authority  of  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  p.  211;  Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  p.  54;  Hening,  vol.  iii, 
p.  25. 

*^  Hening,  vol.  i,  p.  143 ;  vol.  ii,  p.  507 ;  vol.  iii,  p.  481 ;  vol.  iv,  p.  300; 
vol.  V,  p.  67;  vol.  vi,  p.  247;  vol.  vii,  p.  139;  vol.  viii,  p.  533. 


20  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION   OF  [196 

The  county  levy,  also  a  poll  tax,  was  laid  by  the  justices 
of  the  peace,  and  was  used  in  the  payment  of  all  county 
debts,  such  as  the  building  and  the  repairing  of  the  court- 
house, the  prison,  the  bridges,  and  the  ferry-boats ;  the  cost 
of  the  coroner's  inquests,  and  especially — until  1730  the 
largest  obligation — the  allowance  to  the  two  burgesses  for 
their  transportation  to  the  capital  and  their  expenses  while 
attending  the  Assembly.  The  total  expenses  of  the  county 
were  annually  computed  by  the  county  court,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  justices  of  the  peace,  and  were  divided  equally 
among  the  tithables  of  the  county .^^ 

Another  poll  tax,  the  parish  levy,  was  laid  annually  by  the 
vestry  of  each  parish  for  the  payment  of  all  parish  debts, 
such  as  the  erection  of  churches,  the  minister's  salary,  the 
clerk's  salary,  the  care  of  the  poor,  and  any  other  parish 
expenses.  The  Anglican  Church  was  the  established  church 
of  the  colony,  and  all,  regardless  of  religious  belief,  were 
compelled  to  support  it.  The  parish  levy,  as  well  as  the 
public  and  county  levies,  varied  from  year  to  year.  The 
churchwardens,  who  supervised  the  collection  of  this  levy, 
usually  had  the  sheriff,  who  also  gathered  the  public  and 
county  levies,  collect  it  for  them.*^ 

The  tithables  of  the  colony  included  all  male  persons  of 
any  color  above  sixteen — later  eighteen — years  of  age,  and 
all  negro,  mulatto,  and  Indian  women  above  sixteen.  By 
1769,  however,  free  negro,  mulatto,  and  Indian  women  were 
exempted.^"  The  three  methods  of  raising  funds  just  men- 
tioned were  all  poll  taxes,  and  the  levies  amounted  annually 
to  about  one  hundred  pounds  of  tobacco  for  each  tithable. 
It  was  estimated  that  they  aggregated  at  the  beginning  of 

*8  Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  p.  54;  Webb,  p.  211;  Hening,  vol. 
iv,  pp.  279,  370. 

*9  Hening,  vol.  vi,  p.  88 ;  Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  pp.  53,  55 ; 
H.  Jones,  The  Present  State  of  Virginia,  p.  63. 

sopinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  474;  Beverley,  p.  204;  Webb,  p.  211 ; 
Hening,  vol.  viii,  p.  393.  Negro,  Indian,  and  mulatto  children  were 
entered  in  the  parish  register  at  their  birth,  so  that  it  might  be  ascer- 
tained when  they  became  sixteen  years  of  age  (Hening,  vol.  ii,  p. 
296). 


197]  THE   COLONY   OF  VIRGINIA  21 

the  eighteenth  century  about  2,000,000  pounds  of  tobacco  a 
year.*^  None  of  these  levies  were  paid  to  the  receiver- 
general,  whose  duty  it  was  to  receive  the  royal  revenues. 
The  public  levy  was  paid  to  the  treasurer  of  the  colony,  the 
county  levy  into  the  county  treasury,  and  the  parish  levy 
into  the  parish  treasury.  These  levies,  of  course,  increased 
as  the  number  of  tithables  increased.^^ 

Royal  Collectors. — The  British  government  could  not 
carry  out  fully  its  commercial  policy  owing  to  the  difficulty 
in  enforcing  the  regulations  regarding  the  colonial  export 
trade  to  England,  which  was  mainly  the  result  of  there 
being,  especially  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, no  customs  officials  in  any  of  the  colonies  except 
Virginia.  In  1624,  in  order  to  prevent  the  cultivation  of 
tobacco  in  England  and  the  illegal  importation  of  it  into 
English  ports,  a  proclamation  was  issued  that  all  colonial 
tobacco  was  to  be  brought  to  London,^  In  1627  and  again 
in  1628  the  governor  of  Virginia  was  instructed  by  the 
British  government  to  take  security  from  the  masters  of 
ships  that  all  tobacco  would  be  taken  to  London.  In  order 
further  to  prevent  the  direct  shipment  of  tobacco  to  foreign 
countries,  there  was  instituted  in  Virginia  in  1631  the  system 
of  requiring  bonds  that  tobacco  and  other  products  would 


"  Hartwell,  Blair, 

and  Chilton,  p.  55. 

'2  Statistics  for  every  year  cannot  be  obtained. 

Population. 

Tithables 

167I 

40,000 

(British  Museum,  Add.  MSS.,  no. 
30372,  p.  46.) 

1697 

70,000 

20,000 

(Sainsbury,  1691-1697,  pp.  317,  342.) 

1699 

58,040 

21,606 

(Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1701,  p.  636.) 

1700 

24,291 

(Ibid.,  p.  640.) 

1702 

25,099 

(Ibid.,  1702,  no.  767.) 

1723 

39,761 

(Virginia  Historical  Register,  vol. 
iv,  p.  67.) 

1726 

45,266 

(Ibid.,  p.  74) 

1756 

293,472 

*  103,407 

(Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  474.) 

*  Whites  43,329,  negroes  60,078. 

1  G.  L.  Beer,  The  Origins  of  the  British  Colonial  System,  1578- 
1660,  pp.  197-205. 


22  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [ipS 

be  landed  at  London.^  By  1636  the  governor  was  in- 
structed by  the  king  to  appoint  an  officer  to  keep  a  register 
of  all  exports  from  the  colony,  and  to  forward  copies  there- 
of to  the  lord  treasurer.  The  Assembly,  upon  receipt  of 
this  instruction,  created  the  office,  and  granted  to  the  in- 
cumbent a  fee  of  two  pence  on  every  hogshead  of  tobacco 
exported,  which  was  paid  by  the  masters  of  ships,  and  also 
certain  fees  on  other  products.  Richard  Kemp,  secretary 
of  the  colony,  was  apf>ointed  to  this  office  by  the  governor, 
but  Jerome  Hawley  was  about  the  same  time  appointed 
by  the  British  government  treasurer  of  Virginia,  and  in 
addition  to  collecting  the  quit-rents,  was  also  authorized  to 
keep  the  register  of  the  exports  of  the  colony.  In  the  con- 
test between  Kemp  and  Hawley  for  the  right  to  keep  the 
register  and  to  collect  the  fees,  the  royal  appointee,  Hawley, 
was  successful.  On  the  death  of  Hawley,  which  occurred 
soon  after,  Kemp  was  allowed  to  resume  his  duties  as 
register.  This  was  the  first  colonial  customs  office  for  im- 
perial purposes.^  Although  this  office  was  established  by 
the  Virginia  Assembly,  it  was  in  obedience  to  an  order  from 
the  king  that  the  governor  made  the  appointment.  Jerome 
Hawley  was  the  first  of  the  large  number  of  royal  customs 
officials  who  somewhat  later  were  concerned  with  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  colonies.*  The  register  was  the  direct 
predecessor  of  the  collectors,  the  naval  officers,  and  other 
customs  officials  of  the  period  following  the  Restoration, 
and  the  report  of  the  register  forwarded  to  the  lord  treas- 
urer was  the  forerunner  of  the  "naval  office  lists,"  which 
after  1700  were  sent  quite  regularly  to  England.® 

During  the  Cromwellian  period  the  customs  officials  were 
appointed  by  the  Assembly  and  were  responsible  to  it ;  their 
work  was  to  receive  the  customs  duties,  especially  the  duty 
of  two  shillings  per  hogshead  on  exported  tobacco,  laid  in 
March,  1657/8.     This  act  was  to  remain  in  force  for  one  year, 

2  Beer,  Origins,  pp.  197-205.  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and 
Biography,  vol.  vii,  pp.  258,  259,  37s,  385,  386. 

3  Beer,  Origins,  p.  208. 
*Ibid. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  207,  208,  note.    Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  p.  60. 


199]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  23 

and  was  repealed  at  the  expiration  of  that  time.  In  March, 
1662,  this  duty  was  reestabHshed,  and,  as  formerly,  the  cus- 
toms officials  were  appointed  by  the  Assembly  and  were  ac- 
countable to  it.®  Although  this  took  place  after  the  Restora- 
tion, still,  as  in  the  case  of  the  former  act,  the  Assembly 
controlled  the  appointment  and  had  general  supervision  of 
the  officials.  There  was  no  mention  of  the  commissioners 
of  the  customs  in  this  act.  On  August  25,  1669,  however, 
the  commissioners  of  the  customs  in  England  appointed 
Edward  Diggs  to  have  charge  of  the  revenues  in  Virginia 
and  to  correct  abuses  in  the  customs.'^  He  was  referred 
to  as  the  "  collector  of  Virginia,"  and  he  received  a  salary  of 
£250  a  year,  paid  by  the  receiver-general  of  customs  in 
England.^  The  collectors,  who  were  formerly  commis- 
sioned by  the  Assembly,  were  soon  also  made  royal  officials. 
They^  were  thereafter,  in  accordance  with  an  act  of  Parlia- 
ment, appointed  by  the  commissioners  of  the  customs  under 
the  authority  of  the  lords  of  the  treasury.^"  The  commis- 
sioners of  the  customs,  with  the  approval  of  the  lords  of 
the  treasury,  suspended  or  removed  a  collector,  trans- 
ferred him  from  one  district  to  another,  or  granted  him 
permission  to  go  to  England.^^  The  surveyor-general  of  the 
customs  for  the  southern  district  of  America,  acting  under 
instructions  from  the  commissioners  of  the  customs,  had 
general  supervision  of  these  officials,  examined  their  ac- 
counts, issued  instructions  to  them,  and  had  authority  to 

8  Hening,  vol.  i,  pp.  491,  523 ;  vol.  ii,  p.  130. 

^Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1669-1674,  no.  104;  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books,  iii, 
Part  2,  1669-1672,  p.  1 126. 

8  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books,  iv,  1672-1675,  p.  427. 

8  Not  to  be  confused  with  the  collectors  of  the  duties  on  skins  and 
furs,  on  liquors,  and  on  servants  and  slaves,  appointed  by  the  gover- 
nor; or  virith  the  collectors  of  the  six  pence  per  month  from  seamen's 
wages  for  the  royal  hospital  at  Greenwich,  appointed  by  commis- 
sioners in  England  for  this  purpose. 

10  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books,  iv,  1672-1675,  p.  456;  Journal  of  the 
Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,  p.  25;  Hartwell,  Blair,  and 
Chilton,  p.  22)',  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books  and  Papers,  I73i-i734,  PP- 
398,  524;  Beverley,  p.  198;  British  Museum,  King's  MSS.  no.  205, 
p.  498. 

"Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books  and  Papers,  1731-1734,  p.  398;  Cal.  St. 
P.  Col.  1675-1676,  no.  698;  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS., 
1705-1721,  p.  60. 


24  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [200 

suspend  them,  subject,  of  course,  to  the  approval  of  the 
commissioners.^^ 

The  governor  administered  the  oath  of  office  to  the 
collectors  and  saw  that  they  obeyed  the  instructions  of  the 
commissioners  of  the  customs;  in  case  of  emergency  he 
might  make  a  temporary  appointment.^^  He  was  em- 
powered to  "immediately  remove"  any  collector  guilty  of 
fraud  or  neglect,  to  "  appoint  a  fit  person  in  his  stead,"  and 
to  notify  the  king  at  once,  through  one  of  the  principal 
secretaries  of  state  and  the  lords  of  the  treasury.^*  The 
collectors  gave  bond  to  the  king,  countersigned  by  the  at- 
torney-general of  Virginia,  and  took  oath  in  the  Council  to 
execute  faithfully  the  acts  of  Parliament  in  virtue  of  which 
they  were  commissioned.^^ 

For  a  few  years  the  offices  of  collector  and  naval  officer 
were  combined,  as  the  duties  pertaining  to  them  were  very 
closely  related,  but  by  1699  they  were  separated.  There 
were  then  eight  collectors,  soon  reduced  to  six,  who  were 
assigned  the  districts  near  the  larger  rivers  and  Chesa- 
peake Bay.  These  six  districts  were  the  same  that  were 
assigned  the  naval  officers.^*  The  members  of  the  Council 
at  first  controlled  these  offices,  and  at  certain  times  all  six 
collectorships  were  held  by  them.^'^  By  1699,  however,  the 
royal  instructions  to  the  governor  specified  that  councillors 
were  to  be  prohibited  from  holding  the  office  of  collector, 

12  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,  p.  147; 
British  Museum,  Add.  MSS.  no.  8832.  Collectors'  accounts  of  the 
one  penny  a  pound  duty  on  tobacco  shipped  from  one  colony  to 
another  were  inspected  by  officials  of  William  and  Mary  College, 
which  institution  received  this  revenue.  After  their  examination  the 
accounts  were  sent  to  the  commissioners  of  customs  (Cal.  St.  P. 
Col.  1696-1697,  p.  457). 

13  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,  pp.  56,  100; 
1705-1721,  p.  90;  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol. 
i,  p.  244. 

1*  Instructions  to  the  governors. 

1^  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,  p.  60; 
Sainsbury,  1625-1715,  p.  26. 

18  Upper  James  River,  Lower  James  River,  York  River,  Rappa- 
hannock River,  Potomac  River,  and  the  Eastern  Shore  (Hening, 
vol.  iii,  p.  195;  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703, 
p.  36;  Beverley,  p.  195). 

17  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  168^-1692,  no.  2295. 


20l]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  2^ 

as  their  services  in  this  capacity  had  not  been  satisfactory.^^ 
That  there  was  good  reason  for  this  action  of  the  British 
government  is  clearly  demonstrated  in  the  conniving  at 
fraud,  the  accepting  of  bribes,  and  the  actual  complicity 
with  pirates  by  collectors,  both  before  and  after  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Council  were  prohibited  from  holding  the  office.^" 
After  1699  the  clause  in  the  instructions  directing  the 
governor  to  see  that  no  member  of  the  Council  served  in 
this  capacity  specified  that  "persons  much  concerned  in 
trade"  were  also  to  be  excluded. 

At  first  the  collectors  were  not  permitted  to  have  deputies, 
but,  owing  to  the  distance  which  some  of  them  lived  from 
the  ports,  it  was  deemed  advisable  by  1673  to  grant  their 
request  in  this  regard,  and  they  were  empowered  to  appoint 
them,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Council.^"  The  grant- 
ing of  this  privilege  was  not  conducive  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  colony,  for  according  to  a  contemporary  authority 
(1698)  the  revenue  from  the  duty  of  two  shillings  per  hogs- 
head on  tobacco  was  not  so  large  as  formerly  because  the 
regular  officers  lived  away  from  the  ports  and  entrusted 
the  duties  to  "unsworn  deputies,"  and  they,  in  turn,  to 
"  unsworn  masters  of  ships  and  exporters."^^  Because  of 
fraud  and  neglect  in  the  collection  of  this  duty,  the  gov- 
ernors from  Nott  (1705)  to  Dunmore  (1771)  were  in- 
structed to  refuse  to  allow  collectors  to  have  deputies,  except 
in  case  of  absolute  necessity,  and  in  such  cases  to  require 
the  deputies  as  well  as  the  regular  officials  to  take  a  solemn 
oath  to  perform  their  duties.^^ 

The  collectors  received  certain  import  and  export  duties, 
such  as  the  two  shillings  per  hogshead  on  exported  tobacco, 

^8  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  55;  Hart- 
well,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  p.  59;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1699,  p.  312. 

18  Cal,  St.  P.  Col.  1689-16^,  nos.  2199,  2284,  2295 ;  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas. 
Papers,  1689-1692,  pp.  659,  660,  no.  3177;  i6g3-i6^,  no.  1510;  1714- 
1719,  p.  481 ;  Hening,  vol.  iii,  p.  232. 

20  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books,  vol.  iv,  1672-1675,  pp.  427,  437,  456; 
Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1689-1692,  nos.  2317,  2388;  1697-1698,  no.  645;  1696- 
1697,  no.  1320. 

21  Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  p.  59. 

22  Instructions  to  the  governors. 


26  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [202 

and  the  one  penny  per  pound  on  tobacco  shipped  from 
Virginia  to  any  other  American  colony.  After  1680  they 
also  received  the  fifteen  pence  per  ton  on  ships  and  the  six 
pence  per  poll  on  persons  brought  into  the  colony.  They 
were  to  endeavor  to  prevent  illegal  trade,  and  as  far  as 
possible  to  aid  in  the  capture  of  runaway  servants  and 
slaves.^^  In  some  cases  the  collectors  were  appointed  by 
the  governor  and  the  Council  as  justices  of  the  peace,  in 
order  that  they  might  detect  illegal  trade  and  seize  prohibited 
goods,  and  they  also  acted  as  notaries  public  in  matters 
relating  to  maritime  affairs.^*  The  passes  sent  by  the  lords 
of  the  admiralty  to  protect  ships  from  seizure  were  furnished 
to  masters  of  ships  by  the  collectors.  Owing  to  several 
complaints,  after  1728  they  and  other  customs  officers  were 
exempted  from  serving  on  juries,  in  parochial  offices,  or  in 
the  military  service,  unless  it  was  absolutely  necessary,  as 
they  were  hindered  in  the  performance  of  their  duties  there- 
by.^*^  This  exemption  was  made  in  obedience  to  the  gov- 
ernor's instructions. 

The  collectors  were  at  first  paid  only  in  fees,  but  later  each 
received  out  of  the  British  treasury  a  salary  of  from  £40  to 
iioo  according  to  the  importance  of  his  district;  each  had, 
moreover,  twenty  per  cent  on  all  duties  collected,  and  also 
fees,  fixed  by  the  Assembly,  for  entering  and  clearing  ships.^" 
The  income  from  the  percentage  of  course  varied.  Their 
total  allowance  for  collections  for  a  part  of  the  year  1706 

23  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  x,  pp.  219,  220;  Cal.  St.  P. 
Treas.  Papers,  1720-1728,  p.  97;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1693-1696,  no.  1700; 
1696-1697,  no.  290;  Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  pp.  33,  61;  Din- 
widdie  Papers,  vol.  i,  p.  389. 

24  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,  pp.  89,  iii; 
1721-1734,  P-  156;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1699,  p.  495. 

25  Instructions  to  the  governors. 

26  Hening,  vol.  ii,  pp.  387,  443;  vol.  iii,  p.  no;  Dinwiddie  Papers, 
vol.  ii,  p.  597  note ;  Beverley,  p.  198;  British  Museum,  King's  MSS.no. 
205,  p.  498 ;  British  Museum,  Add.  MSS.  no.  8831,  p.  122.  For  entering 
and  clearing  a  ship  of  50  tons  or  less,  los. ;  50  to  100  tons,  iSs. ;  100 
tons  or  more,  £1.  Ss.  For  taking  a  bond  from  the  master  of  a  ship, 
2s.  6d. ;  a  certificate  of  duties  paid,  2s.  6d.  Half  of  these  fees  only 
were  charged  ships  owned  by  Virginians  (Hening,  vol.  iii,  pp.  195, 
351 ;  vol.  vi,  p.  96;  Webb,  p.  308). 


203]  "^^^  COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  2/ 

was  £480.  i8s.  yd."  A  table  of  all  fees  was  to  be  exhibited 
for  the  information  of  the  public.  For  the  first  offense  of 
charging  excessive  fees  £100  fine  was  to  be  imposed,  and 
for  the  second,  the  commission  was  to  be  forfeited.  Ap- 
parently these  penalties  were  not  strictly  enforced. 

The  collectors  swore  to  their  accounts  before  the  auditor,  the 
receiver-general,  and  the  governor  in  Council ;  the  accounts 
were  examined  by  these  officials,  forwarded  quarterly  to  the 
auditor-general  of  the  colonies  and  the  commissioners  of 
the  customs,  and  finally  examined  by  the  comptroller-general 
of  the  accounts  of  the  royal  customs.^^  It  was  by  order  of 
the  commissioners  of  the  customs  that  the  collectors  paid 
to  William  and  Mary  College  the  revenue  arising  from  the 
duty  of  one  penny  per  pound  on  tobacco  exported  to  other 
American  colonies.^^  Complaints  made  by  London  mer- 
chants or  others  that  a  collector  was  concerned  in  trade  or 
was  guilty  of  fraud  were  reported  to  the  Board  of  Trade, 
and  by  that  body  referred  to  the  commissioners  of  the 
customs.^"  It  was  said  on  several  occasions  that  collectors 
failed  to  render  correct  accounts  of  their  revenues,  and  they 
were  openly  charged  with  having  misappropriated  these 
funds.^^  In  a  letter  to  the  Board  of  Trade  of  November, 
1700,  the  surveyor-general  of  the  customs  showed  how  it 
was  possible  for  collectors  to  evade  the  customs  laws.  He 
stated  that  it  had  formerly  been  the  practice  of  some  of 
these  officials  who  were  large  planters,  and  who  received 
one  half  of  the  duty  on  tobacco  carried  from  Virginia  and 
Maryland  to  other  colonies,  to  take  off  about  one  third  of 
the  half  due  from  masters  of  ships  provided  they  would 
purchase  their  whole  loading  from  them.  The  short  entries 
made  on  the  books  were  connived  at  by  those  concerned, 

27  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  p.  469. 

28  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  76;  1721- 
1734,  PP-  44,  109;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1685-1688,  no.  745;  1689-1692,  no. 
2317;  1693-1696,  no.  1829;  1696-1697,  no.  1320;  1701,  nos.  369,  423. 

29  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  90;  Cal. 
St.  P.  Col.  1696-1697,  p.  457. 

30  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  xxvi,  p.  299. 

31  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  ii,  pp.  166, 
169,  170,  386-389;  vol.  iii,  p.  35. 


28  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [204 

as  was  indicated  on  one  occasion  by  the  books  of  the 
collectors  on  James  River  and  Potomac  River.^^  As  late 
as  1766  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Assembly  for  "  preventing 
frauds  in  the  customs,"  the  preamble  of  which  was  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Whereas  it  is  almost  impossible  to  detect  officers  who 
charge  greater  fees  than  by  the  said  act  of  Assembly  are 
allowed,"  and  so  on.^^  Collectors  and  naval  officers  were 
therefore  required  under  penalty  of  a  fine  of  iio  to  furnish 
receipts  for  all  fees  paid  to  them.  The  requiring  of  the  col- 
lectors to  furnish  the  commissioners  of  the  customs  with  a 
list  of  all  vessels  owned  by  the  colonists  was  done  to  prevent 
the  collectors  from  owning  trading  ships,  as  well  as  to  keep 
the  commissioners  informed  in  regard  to  the  trade  of  the 
colony.  , 

Naval  Officers. — The  Navigation  Act  of  1663  created  the 
post  of  naval  officer.  The  first  direct  mention  of  such  an 
official  was  in  1672,  in  connection  with  Barbadoes,  but  it  was 
stated  at  that  time  that  there  had  been  earlier  incumbents.^ 
In  Virginia  the  governor  at  first  appointed  and  removed 
these  officers,^  but  by  1698  the  nominations  were  approved 
by  the  commissioners  of  the  customs  and  the  appointees  re- 
quired to  furnish  security  to  them.^  By  1763  they  were 
named  under  the  great  seal  of  Great  Britain.*  Even  when 
the  governor  had  the  pvower  of  appointment  and  removal, 
any  suspension  or  removal  could  be  referred  to  the  Board 
of  Trade  by  the  aggrieved  officer  for  examination.^  The 
governor  was  not  to  imprison  or  suspend  any  of  the  officers 

32  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1700,  no.  906. 

33  Hening,  vol.  viii,  p.  251. 

1  C.  M.  Andrews,  Colonial  Self-Government,  1652-1689,  p.  33. 

2  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  22;  1721- 
1734, P;  159;  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  vol.  i,  pp.  210,  233; 
Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  i,  pp.  244,  374; 
vol.  iv,  p.  52;  Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  p.  24. 

3  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,  p.  25 ;  Sains- 
bury,  1720-1730,  p.  354;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1700,  no.  752;  Instructions 
to  governors  from  Nott  (1705)  to  Dunmore  (1771). 

*  British  Museum,  King's  MSS.  no.  205,  p.  495;  Journal  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  vol.  Ixix,  pp.  135,  186,  195. 
5  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  xxiii,  p.  58. 


205]  THE   COLONY   OF  VIRGINIA  29 

of  the  royal  customs  except  in  cases  of  felony,  murder,  or 
treason,  but  he  was  to  report  any  other  offenses  to  the 
commissioners  of  the  customs."  The  naval  officers  were  at 
first  usually  selected  from  the  Council,  and  for  a  certain 
time  only  councillors  held  these  positions,''  but  by  1699  the 
royal  instructions  specified  that  councillors  should  not  be 
appointed.®  As  soon  as  the  councillors  were  prohibited 
from  serving  in  this  capacity,  the  offices  of  naval  officer 
and  collector,  which  had  been  held  by  one  person  in  each 
district,  were  separated.^  The  number  of  naval  officers 
was,  until  about  1700,  eight,  but  was  then  reduced  to  six. 
After  1705  they  were  not  permitted  to  have  deputies,  except 
in  case  of  absolute  necessity.^" 

Naval  officers  were  assigned  the  same  districts  as  the  col- 
lectors, and  received  certain  fees.^^  Later,  according  to  the 
importance  of  their  districts,  they  were  paid  from  £40  to 
iioo  annually  out  of  the  British  treasury ;  in  addition,  they 
received  the  fees  allowed  by  the  Assembly  and  collected  in 
the  colony.^2  While  the  perquisites  were  somewhat  smaller 
than  those  of  the  collectors,  the  annual  income,  with  the 
fees  included,  was  in  some  cases  rather  large.^^     In  1763 

«  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1700,  p.  638. 

'^Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1696-1697,  nos.  306,  1320;  1689-1692,  no.  2295; 
1697-1698,  no.  913;  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  x,  p.  217; 
Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  p.  24. 

8  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1699,  P-  312;  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia, 
MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  55;  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  1698- 
1699,  p.  185. 

»Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1699,  P-  312;  1700,  p.  311;  1701,  no.  1182;  Journal 
of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  133;  Spotswood  Let- 
ters, vol.  i,  p.  8;  Hening,  vol.  iii,  p.  195. 

10  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  Z7',  Cal. 
St.  P.  Col.  1697-1698,  no.  767;  British  Museum,  King's  MSS.  no.  205, 
p.  495 ;  Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  p.  24. 

11  Sainsbury,  1691-1697,  p.  345 ;  Beverley,  p.  198. 

12  Hening,  vol.  ii,  pp.  387,  443;  vol.  iii,  p.  no;  Dinwiddle  Papers, 
vol.  ii,  p.  597,  note;  British  Museum,  Add.  MSS.  no.  8831,  p.  122. 

^3  Four  of  the  six  naval  officers  received,  about  1705,  from  £200  to 
;£300  a  year;  the  fifth,  £160,  and  the  sixth,  on  the  Eastern  Shore,  very 
little  (Sainsbury,  1705-1707,  p.  133;  British  Museum,  King's  MSS. 
no.  205,  p.  493;  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721, 
p.  133). 


30  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [206 

one  naval  officer  received  i6oo  in  fees  alone.^*  Naval 
officers  were  required  to  post  in  their  offices  a  list  of  these 
fees.  The  penalty  for  exceeding  them  was  a  fine  of  £ioo 
for  the  first  offense,  and  for  the  second  offense,  removal, 
ineligibility  to  office,  and  a  fine  of  iao  payable  to  the  in- 
former. That  irregularities  occurred,  notwithstanding  this 
provision,  and  that  naval  officers  evaded  the  enforcement  of 
the  penalties  seems  evident  from  the  preamble  to  the  law 
enacted  in  1766  requiring  them  to  furnish  a  receipt  for  every 
fee  collected :  "  Whereas  it  is  almost  impossible  to  detect 
officers,  who  ciharge  greater  fees  than  by  the  said  act  of 
Assembly  are  allowed,  unless  the  officer  or  officers  demand- 
ing and  receiving  the  same,  be  obliged  to  give  receipts  for 
such  fees,"  and  so  on.  Any  naval  officer  refusing  to  give  a 
receipt  was  subject  to  a  fine  of  iio,  payable  to  the  informer, 
in  any  court  of  record  in  the  colony.^^ 

The  duties  of  the  naval  officers  were  closely  related  to 
those  of  the  collectors,  and  certificates  furnished  by  naval 
officers  for  clearing  ships  and  bonds  taken  by  them  were 
not  valid  unless  approved  by  the  collectors.^*'  In  addition 
to  entering  and  clearing  ships,  the  naval  officers  required  a 
bond  from  the  master  of  a  merchant  vessel  that  his  state- 
ment in  regard  to  his  cargo  was  true,  an  oath  that  he  would 
pay  all  required  fees  and  would  observe  the  trade  laws,  and 
a  certificate  that  he  would  guarantee  to  land  the  cargo  in 
an  Englisih  port.  They  granted  permission  to  masters  to 
have  their  sihips  loaded,  seized  vessels  trading  unlawfully  or 
refusing  to  pay  port  duties,  took  charge  of  prize  ships 
awaiting  the  decision  of  the  court,  and  captured  runaway 

^*  For  entering  and  clearing  a  ship  of  50  tons  or  less,  7s,  6d. ;  50  to 
100  tons,  los. ;  100  tons  or  more,  £1.  5s. ;  for  taking  a  bond  from  the 
master  of  a  ship,  2s.  6d. ;  for  a  certificate  to  remove  goods  from  one 
district  to  another,  2s.  6d. ;  for  a  permit  to  trade,  2s.  6d. ;  for  a  load- 
ing cocket,  6d. ;  for  a  permit  to  load  a  ship  for  exportation,  2s.  6d. 
Virginia-owned  ships  paid  only  one  half  of  the  fees  (Hening,  vol. 
iii,  pp.  195,  351 ;  vol.  vi,  p.  97;  British  Museum,  King's  MSS.  no.  206, 
p.  339;  Webb,  p.  309). 

15  Hening,  vol.  iii,  pp.  196,  I97,  352.  353;  vol.  vi,  pp.  97,  98;  vol. 
viii,  p.  251. 

1^  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,  p.  25. 


207]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  3  I 

servants  and  slaves  and  also  pirates.^^  They  furnished  the 
governor  and  the  Council  with  a  list  of  all  ships  in  their 
respective  districts  and  with  minute  descriptions  of  their 
tonnage,  cargo,  guns,  number  of  sailors,  owners,  and  so 
on.^^  They  also  sent  to  the  British  government  quarterly 
statements  of  the  imports  and  exports,  with  an  account 
of  all  ships  trading  in  the  colony,  whence  they  came  and 
whither  they  were  bound.^"  The  orders  of  the  Council  to 
masters  of  ships  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  Council  or 
to  perform  some  special  duty  were  sent  through  the  naval 
officers.^"  On  one  occasion  the  naval  officers,  by  order  of 
the  Council,  assisted  the  captain  of  a  royal  ship  sent  to 
guard  the  Virginia  coast  by  providing  a  sloop  to  accompany 
him  and  securing  a  house  for  his  sick  sailors.^^  They 
acted  as  notaries  public  in  maritime  affairs.^^  It  is  of 
interest  to  read  that  the  French  and  Spanish  prisoners  sent 
on  one  occasion  to  Virginia  from  Carolina  were  placed  in 
charge  of  the  naval  officers  to  be  disposed  of  in  any  way 
they  thought  best  for  the  good  of  the  country .^^  Naval 
officers  reported  to  the  attorney-general  the  bonds  furnished 
by  the  masters  of  ships,  in  order  that  he  might  prosecute 
those  giving  them  as  soon  as  they  should  be  forfeited.^* 

Naval  officers  swore  to  their  accounts  before  the  governor 
and  Council  after  they  had  been  passed  on  by  the  receiver- 
general  and  the  auditor,  by  whom  they  were  sent  to  the 
auditor-general  and  the  commissioners  of  the  customs.^** 

^■'Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  pp.  72,  96; 
Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  vol.  i,  pp.  19,  30,  34,  92;  Hening, 
vol.  iii,  p.  350;  vol.  iv,  p.  430;  vol.  vi,  p.  95;  Spotswood  Letters,  vol. 
i,  p.  3 ;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1690,  p.  148. 

^8  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  pp.  71,  95; 
Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1701,  pp.  369,  423. 

19  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1677-1680,  no.  1590. 

20  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  pp.  38,  63, 
65,  no. 

21  Ibid.,  p.  86. 

22  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1699,  p.  495. 

23  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  65. 

2*  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1700,  p.  514.  Bonds  of  £1000,  in  some  cases 
£2000,  were  given  (C.  O.  S:  188,  26;  190,  196). 

25  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,  pp.  99,  103, 
166-169;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1700,  nos.  359,  934,  1057. 


32  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION   OF  [208 

On  account  of  the  distance  of  certain  naval  officers  from  the 
capital,  and  the  sickness  of  others,  at  certain  times  they 
were  allowed  to  make  oath  before  a  justice  of  the  peace  as  to 
the  truthfulness  of  their  accounts,  and  to  send  them  to  the 
governor  and  the  Council.  Once  a  year  they  had  to  settle 
personally  with  the  governor  and  the  Council.^®  One  of  the 
principal  objections  raised  by  the  Board  of  Trade  to  the 
service  of  members  of  the  Council  as  naval  officers  was 
that  they  rendered  their  accounts  to  themselves,  and  that 
they  were  interested  in  trade.^^  It  is  not  strange  that 
some  cases  of  fraud  were  detected.^®  One  authority  stated 
in  1698  that  councillors  serving  as  naval  officers  exacted 
from  £3  to  £4  for  clearing  a  ship  of  one  hundred  tons  or 
more,  for  which  £i.  5s.  was  the  maximum  fee.^^ 

Comptrollers  of  the  Ciistoms. — The  comptrollers  of  the 
customs  were,  as  their  name  indicates,  revenue  officials. 
They  were  instituted  near  the  close  of  the  colonial  period, 
and  were  appointed  by  the  commissioners  of  the  customs  for 
the  six  revenue  districts  of  the  colony.  They  were  not  to 
supersede  the  regular  naval  officers  and  collectors,  nor,  of 
course,  the  surveyor-general  of  the  customs,  but  were  to 
cooperate  with  them.  Their  appointment  was  apparently 
an  additional  effort  on  the  part  of  the  British  government 
to  supervise  the  work  of  the  collectors  and  the  naval  officers, 
and  to  prevent  fraud.  Their  salaries  were  paid  by  order  of 
the  commissioners  of  the  customs,  but  the  fees  to  be  collected 
by  them,  as  by  all  royal  revenue  officials,  were  determined 
by  the  Assembly.  The  latter  fact  accounts  for  a  petition 
of  December  18,  1764,  to  the  governor  and  the  Council,  re- 
ferred by  them  to  the  House  of  Burgesses.  Three  comp- 
trollers requested  to  be  allowed  to  charge  fees  on  all  ships 

26  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  pp.  19,  118, 
131. 

27  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1697-1698,  no.  767 ;  Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton, 
p.  Z2i',  Instructions  to  the  governors  from  Nicholson  (1702)  to  Dun- 
more  (1771). 

28  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  22;  Cal. 
St.  P.  Col.  1697-1698,  p.  401 ;  Sainsbury,  1706-1714,  p.  298. 

29  Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  p.  33. 


209]  "^^^   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  33 

trading  in  the  colony.  The  salaries  of  the  three  in  question 
were  ^30  a  year  for  the  one  serving  in  the  upper  district 
of  the  James  River,  £50  for  the  one  serving  in  the  lower 
district  of  that  river,  and  £40  for  the  one  serving  on  the 
Eastern  Shore.  They  complained  that  these  salaries  were 
too  small,  and  requested  to  be  allowed  to  charge  the  "  same 
fees  as  are  allowed  by  law  to  the  collectors  of  his  majesty's 
customs,  or  such  other  fees  as  shall  be  thought  reasonable," 
but  the  petition  was  refused.^ 

Among  the  duties  performed  by  the  comptrollers  was  the 
searching  of  ships  with  the  cooperation  of  the  collectors 
and  the  naval  officers,  on  the  authority  of  writs  of  assistance. 
This  is  shown  by  the  following  letter,  in  which  the  collector 
and  the  comptroller  of  Accomac  wrote  to  the  commissioners 
of  the  customs,  on  April  22,  1772,  as  follows:  "Agreeable 
to  our  letter  of  November  last,  we,  together  with  other 
officers,  made  application  for  writs  of  assistance,  to  the 
Supreme  Court,^  but  were  refused  them,  for  the  same 
reasons  as  were  given  before,  viz. :  that  application  must  be 
made  for  them  every  time  we  have  occasion  for  them,  and 
not  for  general  writs  of  assistance."^  The  collector  and 
the  comptroller  of  the  lower  district  of  the  James  River  had 
the  same  experience  the  next  year,*  The  attorney-general 
of  Virginia,  who  had  failed  to  secure  writs  for  them,  made 
the  following  explanation  to  the  collector  on  April  26,  1773 : 
"  I  have  moved  the  court  for  a  writ  of  assistance,  agreeable 
to  the  desire  of  the  commissioners  of  the  customs,  and 
according  to  the  form  of  the  writ  said  by  the  attorney 
general  of  England,  to  be  practiced  there,  but  they  have 
positively  refused  it,  and  declared  that  they  can  allow  no 
other  writ  than  such  a  one  as  was  settled  upon  a  former 
occasion,  agreeable  to  our  act  of  Assembly.  I  despair  of 
ever  obtaining  what  is  wished  for."^ 


1  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  1761-1765,  p.  301. 

2  General  court  of  Virginia. 

3  C.  O.  5 :  145,  8^ 

4  Ibid.,  8"'. 

5  Ibid.,  8°. 

3 


34  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION    OF  [2IO 

Surveyors-General  of  the  Customs. — The  surveyors-gen- 
eral of  the  customs  for  America  and  the  West  Indies  were 
first  appointed  about  1690.  There  was  one  for  the  northern 
district,  another  for  the  southern  district,  and  a  third  for 
certain  British  island  possessions.  In  the  southern  district 
were  included  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  the  Bahama  Islands,  and  Jamaica.^ 
These  surveyors-general  were  appointed  by  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  customs,  and  received  instructions  from  them.^ 

The  surveyor-general  of  the  customs  for  the  southern  dis- 
trict was  a  member  of  the  Council  in  Virginia,  South  Caro- 
lina, and  Jamaica,^  and  up  to  1733  was  granted  all  the 
privileges  of  a  councillor ;  after  that  date,  he  was  considered 
an  extraordinary  councillor  only,  unless  admitted  to  these 
privileges  by  the  crown.'*  The  Council  of  Virginia  refused 
to  allow  Robert  Dinwiddle,  appointed  in  1741,  to  act  with 
it  in  a  legislative  or  judicial  capacity,  and  appealed  to  the 
king  to  have  his  instructions  so  changed.  It  was  decided 
by  the  Privy  Council,  after  consultation  with  the  Board  of 
Trade,  that  the  royal  order  must  be  obeyed,  and  that  Din- 
widdle was  to  sit  and  vote  in  the  Upper  House  of  the 
Assembly,  and  to  serve  as  judge  in  the  general  court  and  the 
court  of  oyer  and  terminer.'^ 

The  surveyor-general  was  a  revenue  ofiicer,  and  was 
therefore  under  the  authority  of  the  lords  of  the  treasury 
as  well  as  of  the  commissioners  of  the  customs;  he  was 
required  to  get  permission  to  go  to  England  from  one  body 
or  the  other.^     His  reports  were  usually  sent  to  the  Board 

1  Plantations  General,  vol.  xi,  M.  44,  August  8,  1733 ;  Cal.  St.  P. 
Treas.  Books  and  Papers,  1731-1734,  pp.  93,  204,  456;  Sainsbury, 
1720-1730,  p.  428. 

2  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,?.  147;  British 
Museum,  King's  MSS.  no.  205,  p.  493. 

3  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  219;  172 1- 
1734,  pp.  ISO,  252;  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  xxxix,  pp. 
25^30. 

*  Sainsbury,  1606-1740,  pp.  145-146;  Acts  of  Privy  Council,  Colo- 
nial, 1720-1745,  no.  277. 

5  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  li,  p.  22;  Acts  of  Privy  Coun- 
cil, Col.,  1 720-1 745,  no.  537- 

^  Plantations  General,  vol.  xviii,  p.  213. 


21 1]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  35 

of  Trade,  in  addition  to  being  forwarded  to  the  treasury  and 
to  the  custom-house.'^  Before  the  duty  of  one  penny  a 
pound  on  tobacco  sent  from  one  American  colony  to  another 
was  granted  to  William  and  Mary  College,  he  had  special 
charge  of  this  revenue.*  As  the  representative  of  the  com- 
missioners of  the  customs,  he  had  general  supervision  of  the 
royal  collectors  and  the  naval  officers,  and  issued  instruc- 
tions to  them,  and  his  action  in  this  regard  could  not  be 
questioned  by  the  governor  or  the  Council.^  In  the  absence 
of  the  surveyor-general,  however,  the  governor  might  make 
a  temporary  assignment  to  a  vacant  collectorship.  He  was 
on  some  occasions  consulted  by  the  governor  as  to  the  ap- 
pointment of  certain  officers  whose  duties  pertained  to 
revenue  or  trade.^°  He  was,  in  fact,  empowered  to  fill  any 
office  of  the  customs  vacated  for  any  reason,  but  was  re- 
quired to  submit  the  name  of  the  appointee  to  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  customs  and  the  lords  of  the  treasury.  Since 
the  matters  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  court  of  vice- 
admiralty  affected  trade  and  revenue,  the  names  of  those 
appointed  to  the  admiralty  courts  were  referred  to  him.^^ 

The  surveyor-general  rendered  the  British  government 
valuable  service  in  examining  the  books  and  accounts  of 
revenue  officers,  and  in  securing  debts  owed  to  the  govern- 
ment by  the  collectors  or  others.^^  He  explained,  sometimes 
personally,  to  the  Board  of  Trade  the  grounds  upon  which 
certain  complaints  were  made  to  it  in  regard  to  laws  affect- 
ing trade  and  revenue,  gave  the  reasons  for  complaints 
against  the  governor,  and  furnished  information  on  general 
colonial  conditions.^^      His  most  valuable  service,  perhaps, 

^  Plantations  General,  vol.  xix,  p.  281 ;  vol.  xx,  p.  333. 

8  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  x,  p.  219. 

^Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  249.  In- 
structions to  Earl  of  Orkney,  March  22,  1728,  in  Sainsbury,  1715- 
1720,  p.  442. 

^o  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  148. 

1^  Plantations  General,  vol.  iv,  5,  O,  7. 

^2  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  pp.  118, 
120;  1698-1703,  p.  147;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1689-1692,  no.  2295;  1700, 
no.  906. 

^*  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,  p.  146; 
Sainsbury,  1606-1740,  pp.  96,  106. 


36  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION    OF  [212 

was  in  detecting  and  to  some  extent  preventing  piracy  and 
illegal  trade,  and  in  forwarding  to  the  commissioners  of  the 
customs  lists  of  ships  and  an  account  of  goods  forfeited 
to  the  king  for  the  violation  of  the  acts  of  Parliament  re- 
garding trade.^*  His  salary,  which  was  paid  out  of  the 
customs,  by  1763  was  i6oo  sterling  a  year.^^ 

Searchers. — According  to  an  act  of  Assembly  of  February, 
1633,  searchers  were  appointed  "  to  search  the  ships  and 
secret  places  of  said  ships,  and  to  seize  all  concealed  goods." 
They  were  to  notify  the  governor  and  the  Council  of  their 
action.^  It  seems  that  this  office  was  discontinued,  but  the 
governor,  seeing  the  need  of  an  officer  who  would  devote 
himself  to  preventing  illegal  trade,  proposed  to  Colonel 
Robert  Quary,  the  surveyor-general  of  the  customs,  the  re- 
establishing of  such  an  office  in  the  lower  district  of  the  James 
River.^  The  commissioners  of  the  customs,  to  whom  the 
plan  was  referred,  evidently  acted  favorably  on  the  sugges- 
tion, for  by  1714  there  were  searchers  in  addition  to  col- 
lectors and  naval  officers  on  the  James  and  York  Rivers  and 
on  the  Eastern  Shore,  and  also  one  in  Lynnhaven  Bay.^  In 
making  his  report  to  the  Board  of  Trade  in  1763,  Governor 
Fauquier  stated  that  there  were  only  two  searchers  in  the 
colony,  one  in  the  lower  district  of  the  James  River  and  one 
on  the  Eastern  Shore,  and  he  emphasized  the  importance  of 
increasing  the  number,  on  account  of  the  frequency  of  ille- 
gal trading.*  The  searchers  were  appointed  by  the  surveyor- 
general  of  the  customs. 

While  the  surveyor-general  of  the  customs  rendered  val- 
uable service  in  preventing  illegal  trade,  still,  owing  to  the 
extensive  area  over  which  he  exercised  jurisdiction,  it  was 
essential  that  such  an  officer  as  the  searcher  should  remain 


1*  Plantations  General,  vol.  iv,  (i),  pp.  5,  6;  v,  (2),  November  5, 
1700;  February  13,  1701 ;  November  17,  1701 ;  vol.  xxxi,  p.  2^. 

15  Fauquier  to  Board  of  Trade,  in  British  Museum,  King's  MSS. 
no.  205,  p.  493, 

1  Hening,  vol.  i,  pp.  207,  213. 

2  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  148. 

3  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  ii,  p.  2. 
*  British  Museum,  King's  MSS.  no.  205,  p.  495. 


213]  THE  COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  37 

in  the  colony  and  perform  this  important  duty  for  him.  As 
to  the  salary  of  the  searchers,  it  is  known  that  about  1740 
they  petitioned  the  lords  of  the  treasury  for  a  salary  of  £40 
a  year,  which  had  been  promised  each  of  them  by  the  sur- 
veyor-general of  the  customs."  Later  they  were  paid  in  fees 
alone." 

Auditor. — The  duties  of  the  auditor  were  at  first  per- 
formed by  the  treasurer  of  the  colony.  The  office  was  estab- 
lished by  the  Assembly  in  1664,  with  Captain  Thomas  Stegg, 
whose  commission  was  confirmed  by  the  king,  as  the  first 
incumbent.^.  This  office  was  at  first  provincial  in  the  sense 
that  it  was  established  by  the  Assembly  and  the  incumbent 
thereof  was  compensated  by  that  body,  but  from  the  begin- 
ning the  royal  approval  was  necessary  to  confirm  the  appoint- 
ments.^ The  governor  had  a  share  in  the  appointive  power 
to  the  extent  of  making  recommendations  for  the  auditor- 
ship,  and  in  case  of  an  emergency  he  might  appoint  a  tem- 
porary incumbent.'  Upon  the  death  of  the  auditor  in  1704, 
the  governor  (Nicholson)  himself  assumed  the  duties  of  this 
office,  and  served  as  auditor  for  nine  months.  He  did  not, 
however,  serve  in  this  capacity  under  a  commission,  but  sim- 
ply performed  the  duties  instead  of  making  a  temporary 
appointment.*  The  governor  had  the  power  to  suspend  the 
auditor,  subject  of  course  to  royal  approval,"  but  could  not 

5  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books  and  Papers,  1739-1741,  p.  17. 

8  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  597,  note. 

^  For  a  few  years  he  was  styled  "auditor-general  of  Virginia" 
(Acts  of  Privy  Council,  Col.  1613-1680,  no.  1309;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col. 
1669-1674,  nos.  104,  192,  195,  196,  696). 

2  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1677-1680,  no.  966;  Virginia  Magazine  of  History 
and  Biography,  vol.  xiv,  p.  270. 

3Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  p.  24;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1677-1680, 
no.  1416;  1696-1697,  no.  1320;  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Papers,  1714-1719, 
p.  281;  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  xiv,  p. 
267;  vol.  xvii,  p.  35. 

^Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  pp.  3,  9;  J.  S. 
Bassett,  ed..  The  Writings  of  Colonel  William  Byrd,  introduction, 
p.  48. 

5  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  p.  57 ;  Cal.  St  P.  Treas.  Papers,  1714- 
1719,  p.  207;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1669-1674,  no.  696;  Spotswood  Letters, 
vol.  ii,  pp.  152,  159. 


38  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION    OF  [2I4 

grant  him  leave  of  absence,  as  it  was  necessary  for  the  audi- 
tor to  get  permission  from  the  lords  of  the  treasury  when  he 
desired  to  leave  the  colony.  The  auditor  was  unquestion- 
ably a  royal  appointee,  and  held  his  commission  under  the 
great  seal.®  He  was,  after  1680,  upon  the  appointment  of 
the  auditor-general  of  the  colonies,  the  deputy  of  that 
official.^  When  the  auditorship  was  established,  it  was 
stated  that  only  councillors  and  those  who  had  long  re- 
sided in  the  colony  were  eligible  to  this  office,  and  it  seems 
that  this  principle  was  generally  observed.^ 

For  several  years  the  auditor  also  performed  the  duties  of 
the  receiver-general,  but  by  1705  it  was  found  advisable  to 
separate  these  offices.^  Nicholson  told  the  Board  of  Trade 
that  the  auditor  kept  all  the  books  and  money  of  his  office  at 
his  residence,  which  was  not  at  the  capital.  He  advised 
that  these  offices  be  separated,  and  both  officers  be  required 
to  live  at  the  seat  of  government  and  to  keep  their  records 
in  the  capitol.  In  regard  to  the  conduct  of  the  auditor  while 
serving  as  receiver-general  and  the  opportunities  for  fraud 
and  deception,  it  was  stated  by  an  authority  in  1698  that  the 
auditor  made  up  his  account,  and,  "  for  fashion,"  laid  it 
before  the  governor  and  the  Council,  "but  nobody  oflFers  to 
say  anything  to  it,  it  is  by  him  transmitted  to  William  Blath- 

^  The  auditor  and  the  secretary  were  for  many  years  the  only 
officers  besides  the  governor  who  held  commissions  under  the  great 
seal  (Acts  of  Privy  Council,  Col.  1613-1680,  no.  1309;  Journal  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  vol.  iii,  p.  75;  vol.  vi,  p.  230;  British  Museum,  King's 
MSS.  no.  205,  p.  493;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1685-1688,  no.  1551;  Spotswood 
Letters,  vol.  i,  p.  165). 

^Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  pp.  3,  265; 
app.,  p.  52;  1721-1734,  pp.  16,  302;  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  i,  p.  472; 
vol.  ii,  p.  167;  British  Museum,  King's  MSS.  no.  205,  p.  493;  Din- 
widdie  Papers,  vol  i,  p.  390;  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and 
Biography,  vol.  iii,  p.  122. 

8  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1669-1674,  no.  195 ;  Virginia  Magazine  of  History 
and  Biography,  vol.  xiv,  p.  270;  Jones,  p.  "JT,  W.  G.  and  M.  N. 
Stanard,  The  Colonial  Virginia  Register,  pp.  22,  45,  46,  47.  A  strik- 
ing exception  to  this  was,  however,  furnished  in  the  case  of  Robert 
Ayleway,  who  was  appointed  by  royal  commission  for  life  in  1677. 
He  did  not  come  to  Virginia,  but  had  Nathaniel  Bacon,  Sr.,  and 
later  William  Byrd,  to  serve  for  him. 

^  Spotswood  Letters,  vol.  i,  p.  7 ;  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  pp. 
60,  378;  Beverley,  p.  196;  Bassett,  introduction,  pp.  27,  49;  Stanard, 
pp.  2.2,  45-47. 


215]  THE   COLONY   OF  VIRGINIA  39 

wayt."^"  From  1677  to  1691  the  auditor,  in  addition  to  serv- 
ing in  the  capacities  just  mentioned,  performed  the  duties  of 
the  treasurer  of  the  colony. ^^ 

As  the  name  of  the  office  indicates,  the  auditor  examined  all 
the  revenue  accounts  of  the  colony,  except  a  few  purely  local 
ones  under  the  supervision  of  the  treasurer.  Among  these  ac- 
counts were  those  of  the  royal  collectors  and  naval  officers,  the 
quit-rents,  the  public  claims,  the  fines  and  forfeitures.  He 
swore  to  his  accounts  before  the  governor  and  the  Council  in 
April  and  October,  and  forwarded  them  through  the  auditor- 
general  to  the  lords  of  the  treasury.^^  The  direct  and  care- 
ful supervising  of  these  accounts  by  the  lords  of  the  treasury 
was  shown  in  a  letter  from  them  to  the  auditor.  He  was 
instructed  to  send  "authentic  and  sufficient  vouchers  for 
every  particular  payment"  that  was  made  by  the  receiver- 
general,  by  himself,  or  by  any  other  person  on  warrants  from 
the  governor.  He  was  to  transmit  "  duplicates  or  attested 
copies  of  all  original  receipts,  acquitances  and  papers  "  relat- 
ing to  the  revenue.^^  Previous  to  about  1680  he  was  re- 
quired to  submit  his  report  to  the  House  of  Burgesses  before 
sending  it  to  England,  but  Governor  Culpeper  discontinued 
this  custom,  thus  drawing  on  himself  the  disapproval  of  the 
most  influential  men  of  the  colony,  who  for  many  years  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  have  the  practice  resumed. 

The  auditor  not  only  examined  the  quit-rent  accounts,  but 
also,  while  serving  as  receiver-general,  retained  the  money 
arising  from  this  revenue,  and  paid  it  out  on  the  order  of 
the  lords  of  the  treasury,  sent  through  the  governor.^*  Until 
1700  the  quit-rents  were  usually  paid  in  tobacco;  after 

i^Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  p.  59.  William  Blathwayt  was 
auditor-general  of  the  colonies. 

11  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  p.  66. 

^2  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  51 ;  vol.  ii,  p.  167 ;  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Vir- 
ginia, MS.,  1705-1721,  pp.  19,  58,  91;  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books  and 
Papers,  1731-1734,  pp.  403,  454;  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Papers,  1714-1719, 
p.  lOI. 

13  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  i,  p.  171. 

i^Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Papers,  1714-1719,  p.  109;  Hartwell,  Blair,  and 
Chilton,  p.  57;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1681-1685,  nos.  319,  1760;  1669-1692, 
no.  1003;  1693-1696,  no.  534;  1697-1698,  p.  758. 


40  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION   OF  [2 1 6 

that  date  they  were  also  paid  in  money.  The  auditor  was 
required  by  the  governor  and  the  Council  to  give  directions 
to  the  sheriffs,  in  accordance  with  the  royal  instructions,  for 
the  sale  of  the  quit-rent  tobacco  to  the  highest  bidder  at  the 
county  courts.  This  method  was  to  supersede  the  former 
one  of  selling  by  "  inch  of  candle."^^  That  there  was  need 
for  this  change  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  quit-rents  were 
on  some  occasions  about  1700  sold  privately  to  the  governor 
and  the  councillors  and  to  the  auditor  himself,  who  bought 
the  most  desirable  of  this  tobacco  for  themselves.  The 
auditor  was  thus  treasurer  and  seller  and  buyer  of  the  quit- 
rent  tobacco.^®  He  was  expected  to  see  that  the  government 
was  not  defrauded  of  this  revenue.  As  late  as  the  adminis- 
tration of  Dinwiddie  (1752-1758),  the  governor  was  careful 
to  have  patents  for  land  taken  to  the  auditor's  office,  where 
they  were  immediately  put  on  the  rent-roll,  thus  making 
more  regular  and  certain  the  collection  of  the  quit-rents.^^ 

For  a  few  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  office,  the 
auditor  received  a  salary  from  the  Assembly  ;^^  later,  he  was 
paid  a  salary  as  a  royal  official  of  iioo  a  year  out  of  the 
British  treasury.  His  compensation  was,  however,  largely 
in  the  form  of  a  fee,  which  was  gradually  increased  from 
three  to  seven  and  a  half  per  cent  of  the  revenue  accounts 
audited,  and  amounted  to  about  £400  a  year.^^  This  fee  was 
again  increased  to  ten  per  cent  by  the  authority  of  the  lords 
of  the  treasury,  but  by  1767  it  was  reduced  to  five  per  cent.^" 
The  auditorship  was  one  of  the  few  places  of  profit  in  the 

15  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1699,  p.  387;  1702,  no.  895;  Journal  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  12;  Extra  Session,  December  11, 
1723. 

18  Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  pp.  56,  57 ;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1696- 
1697,  p.  610;  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  x,  p.  216. 

1^  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  269. 

18  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books  and  Papers,  1731-1734,  no.  201 ;  Cal.  St. 
P.  Col.  1669-1674,  no.  195. 

19  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  pp.  273,  469;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1696- 
1697,  no.  1320;  Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  pp.  57,  61;  Virginia 
Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  iii,  p.  122. 

20  British  Museum,  King's  MSS.  no.  206,  p.  249;  Sainsbury,  1715- 
1720,  p.  463;  Blathwayt,  Virginia  Papers,  MS. 


21/]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  4 1 

colony ,2^  Governor  Fauquier  estimated  in  1763  that  the 
annual  income  of  the  office  amounted  to  iSoo  sterling.*^ 
The  auditor  and  the  secretary  were,  in  fact,  the  two  prin- 
cipal officers  in  the  colony,  and  in  many  respects  were  next 
in  importance  to  the  governor.'*' 

Receiver-General. — As  has  been  stated  in  connection  with 
the  auditorship,  this  office  and  that  of  receiver-general  were 
originally  combined.  In  1705,  on  account  of  much  criticism 
of  the  method  of  keeping  accounts  and  uneasiness  as  to  the 
possibility  of  fraud,  the  duties  of  the  auditor  were  divided. 
On  the  death  that  year  of  William  Byrd,  the  incumbent, 
Dudley  Diggs  was  appointed  auditor,  and  William  Byrd, 
Jr.,  receiver-general.^  The  receiver-generalship  was  a  royal 
appointment,  and  for  many  years  this  official  held  his  com- 
mission under  the  sign  manual  of  the  king,  or  the  signatures 
of  the  lords  of  the  treasury  by  command  of  the  king.  By  1763 
he  was  one  of  the  few  patent  officers  of  the  colony,  and  held 
his  commission  under  the  great  seal.^  The  receiver-general 
gave  a  bond  for  i6ooo  to  the  lords  of  the  treasury,  with 
either  a  London  merchant  or  some  man  of  means  in  Virginia 
as  security,  and  he  was  also  required  to  furnish  another  bond 
for  £6000  to  the  governor.^  He  obtained  permission  from 
the  lords  of  the  treasury  when  he  wished  to  go  to  England, 
and  submitted  to  their  approval  the  deputy  whom  he  ap- 
pointed to  serve  during  his  absence.*  By  1763  he  had  a 
regular  deputy,  who  assisted  him  in  the  performance  of  his 
duties.^    Those  who  filled  the  office  of  receiver-general  were 

21  The  secretary  and  the  receiver-general  were  the  other  two 
(Sainsbury,  1706-1714,  p.  154). 

22  British  Museum,  King's  MSS.  no.  205,  p.  493. 

23  Sainsbury,  1625-1715,  p.  215. 

1  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  p.  378;  Journal  of  the  Council  of 
Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  pp.  3-5,  29;  Bassett,  introduction,  p.  49. 

2  British  Museum,  King's  MSS.  no.  205,  p.  493;  Blathwayt's  Jour- 
nal, vol.  ii,  p.  403 ;  vol.  iii,  p.  141 ;  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia, 
MS.,  1705-1721,  pp.  2)3,  265 ;  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  i,  p.  390. 

3  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  app.,  p.  54; 
1721-1734,  pp.  16,  301 ;  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  p.  406. 

*  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  359;  Jour- 
nal of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  xxiv,  p.  iii. 

5  Fauquier  to  Board  of  Trade,  in  British  Museum,  King's  MSS. 
no.  205,  p.  493. 


42  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION    OF  [2X8 

practically  all  councillors,  for  four  of  the  five  who  served 
from  1705  to  1775  were  members  of  the  Council.^ 

The  duties  of  the  receiver-general  included  the  receiving 
of  the  quit-rents,  the  revenue  arising  from  the  export  duty 
of  two  shillings  per  hogshead  on  tobacco,  the  one  penny  per 
pound  on  tobacco  exported  from  Virginia  to  any  other  Eng- 
lish colony  in  America,  the  port  duty,  which  was  the  revenue 
arising  from  the  fifteen  pence  per  ton  on  all  vessels  arriving 
in  the  colony,  and  all  funds  of  the  colony  not  received  by  the 
treasurer.'^  He  kept  an  account  of  the  sale  of  all  rights  for 
land,  and  received  all  forfeitures  and  escheats  and  the  fines 
imposed  by  the  general  court  and  collected  by  the  sheriffs.^ 
The  money  arising  from  the  sale  of  prize  ships  passed 
through  his  office,  and  the  lords  of  the  treasury  required  him 
to  furnish  an  account  of  ships  which  had  been  seized  and 
condemned  for  illegal  trading.^  He  paid  out  of  the  revenue 
of  two  shillings  per  hogshead,  on  the  order  of  the  governor 
in  Council,  the  salaries  of  the  officers  of  the  colony,  also 
those  of  the  auditor-general  of  the  colonies  and  the  solicitor 
of  Virginia  affairs,  both  of  whom  lived  in  England.^"  All 
the  public  expenses  of  the  colony,  except,  of  course,  those 
paid  out  of  the  funds  held  by  the  treasurer,  were  paid  out 
of  the  funds  received  in  his  office.^^  He  was  instructed  to 
pay  out  money  on  warrant  from  the  lords  of  the  treasury  or 
from  the  governor,  but  could  pay  out  the  quit-rents  only  on 
a  royal  warrant  sent  either  directly  to  him  or  to  the  gov- 
ernor.^^  He  of  course  reported  to  the  lords  of  the  treasury 
all  payments  made  on  the  order  of  the  governor,^*    The 

^  Stanard,  p.  23. 

'^  Hartwell,  Blair,  and  Chilton,  pp.  55-62;  Journal  of  the  Council 
of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  app.,  p.  2;  Beverley,  p.  196. 

8  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,  pp.  72,  166, 
168;  1705-1721,  p.  29;  1721-1734,  pp.  254,  302,  311;  Dinwiddle  Papers, 
vol.  i,  p.  21. 

»  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  vi,  p.  176;  Blathwayt's  Jour- 
nal, vol.  i,  p.  504;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1700,  no.  326. 

1°  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,  pp.  160,  167. 

^1  Ibid.,  1698-1703,  pp.  42,  45. 

12  Ibid.,  1705-1721,  app.,  p.  2;  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  p.  295. 

13  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books  and  Papers,  1739-1741,  p.  216. 


219]  "^^^   COLONY   OF  VIRGINIA  43 

accounts  of  the  revenues  and  the  reports  of  disbursements 
forwarded  to  the  lords  of  the  treasury  were  certified  to  by 
the  auditor  and  the  governor,  and  sent  by  the  governor.^* 

In  remitting  by  bills  of  exchange  the  funds  to  be  for- 
warded to  England — ^the  quit-rents,  which  had  been  paid  in 
current  money — the  receiver-general  was  required  to  allow 
for  the  difference  between  colonial  and  sterling  money. 
This  difference  varied,  being  at  one  time  as  much  as  forty- 
five  per  cent,  but  it  was  usually  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
per  cent.  The  difference  between  the  current  money  of  the 
colony  and  bills  of  exchange  was  certified  to  by  the  Council 
upon  the  application  of  the  receiver-general,  in  order  that  he 
might  make  up  his  accounts.  The  Assembly,  also,  from 
time  to  time  determined  the  value  of  currency  money.^' 

The  receiver-general  was  paid  for  his  services  at  first  four 
per  cent,  then  seven  per  cent,  then  five  per  cent,  of  the 
money  passing  through  his  office;  at  first  this  amounted  to 
about  £240  a  year.^®  For  furnishing  on  a  certain  occasion 
a  complete  roll  of  the  quit-rents  for  a  period  of  five  years 
he  received  by  warrant  under  the  royal  sign  manual  a  com- 
pensation of  £150.^''     Near  the  close  of  the  colonial  period, 

^*Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books  and  Papers,  1735-1738,  p.  519;  1739- 
1741,  pp.  216,  264;  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721, 
pp.  61,  127,  302;  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  271;  Blathwayt,  Vir- 
ginia Papers,  MS. 

15  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1721-1734,  pp.  59,  128, 
457;  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  1695-1696,  p.  10;  1702- 
1705,  p.  99;  1756-1758,  p.  524;  Hening,  vol.  iii,  p.  502;  vol.  vi,  p.  467; 
Acts  of  Privy  Council,  Col.  1745-1766,  p.  390;  1766-1783,  p.  384;  G. 
L.  Beer,  British  Colonial  Policy,  p.  179. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  and  also  in  the  eighteenth  century  tobacco 
was  used  as  currency.  There  were,  however,  some  coins  used  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  by  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  there 
were,  in  addition  to  the  English  coins,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  French, 
Dutch,  Flemish,  Mexican,  and  Peruvian  coins  in  the  colony.  In- 
spectors of  tobacco  issued  notes  which  served  as  currency.  After 
1755  paper  money  (treasury  notes)  was  issued  by  the  colony.  In  1773 
copper  coins  were  struck  off  at  the  royal  mint  in  England  especially 
for  use  in  Virginia. 

16  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  p.  S42;  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  i,  p. 
390;  Blathwayt,  Virginia  Papers,  MS. 

1'^  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books  and  Papers,  1731-1734,  p.  536. 


44  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [220 

in  1763,  the  annual  income  of  this  office  was  estimated  by 
Governor  Fauquier  at  iSoo  sterling.^® 

Collectors  of  the  Duty  on  Skins  and  Furs. — ^When  William 
and  Mary  College  was  chartered  in  1691,  the  Assembly  im- 
posed on  skins  and  furs  exported  a  duty  which  was  appro- 
priated to  the  support  of  that  institution.  The  collectors  of 
this  duty  were  appointed  by  the  governor;  they  accounted 
with  the  college,  and  received  six  per  cent  of  this  revenue 
for  their  services.  They  cooperated  with  the  naval  officers, 
who  had  charge  of  clearing  ships,  in  order  to  guard  against 
evasion  of  this  duty.^  When  fraud  was  suspected,  a  col- 
lector was  authorized  to  search  a  house  or  a  ship  for  con- 
cealed skins  or  furs,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  the  sheriff 
or  constable,  to  seize  them.  One  half  was  to  be  given  to 
the  college  and  the  other  half  to  the  informer.  Later  on, 
the  collector  became  entitled  to  the  latter  half.  By  1734,  on 
account  of  the  opportunity  for  evasion  of  the  duty  on  the 
frontier,  justices  of  the  peace,  sheriffs,  and  constables  were 
empowered  to  seize  skins  and  furs  in  possession  of  travelers 
near  the  frontier,  unless  the  owners  could  prove  that  they 
were  inhabitants  of  the  colony  and  would  also  take  an  oath 
not  to  evade  the  duty  should  they  decide  to  export.  By  1759, 
however,  the  duty  was  evaded,  especially  by  "  pedlars  "  on 
the  frontier,  and  a  law  was  passed  by  the  Assembly  requir- 
ing every  "  pedlar  "  or  trader  to  obtain  a  license  from  a  col- 
lector "  residing  near  the  frontier."  In  addition  to  the  col- 
lectors at  the  ports,  there  were  thus,  by  1759,  collectors  of 
this  revenue  stationed  on  the  frontier.  These  additional 
collectors  accounted  with  the  college  and  received  ten  per 
cent  for  their  services.  They  were  empowered,  in  addition 
to  granting  licenses  to  traders,  to  take  a  bond  of  i20,  with 
security,  from  each  of  them,  to  insure  compliance  with  the 
laws  regarding  this  duty.^ 

^8  Fauquier  to  Board  of  Trade,  in  British  Museum,  King's  MSS. 
no.  205,  p.  493- 

J^  Hening,  vol.  iii,  pp.  63,  123,  356;  vol.  iv,  p.  431 ;  vol.  vi,  p.  91 ;  vol. 
viii,  p.  142. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  vii,  p.  283.  Fees  for  license :  £3  for  the  college,  20s. 
for  the  governor,  and  20s.  for  the  collector 


22 1]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  45 

Collectors  of  the  Duty  on  Liquors. — The  collectors  of  the 
duty  on  imported  liquors  were  appointed  in  1691  by  the  gov- 
ernor to  collect  this  duty  from  merchants  or  others  receiving 
spirituous  liquors,  wines,  or  beer.  They  accounted  twice  a 
year,  April  and  October,  with  the  treasurer  of  the  colony, 
who  reported  to  the  Assembly.  At  first  they  were  allowed 
ten  per  cent  for  their  services,  but  in  1699  this  was  reduced 
to  six  per  cent.  A  collector  in  each  of  the  six  revenue  dis- 
tricts cooperated  with  the  royal  collectors  and  naval  officers 
there  in  seeing  that  no  ship  was  permitted  to  land  liquors 
until  it  had  been  duly  registered.  They  were  empowered 
to  go  on  board  a  ship  and  seize  any  liquors  on  which  the  duty 
had  not  been  paid,  and  to  take  forcible  possession  of  any 
such  liquors  if  landed  and  concealed.^  By  1736,  on  account 
of  the  evasion  of  this  duty  by  the  importing  of  liquors  by 
land  from  the  adjacent  colonies,  the  collectors  were  author- 
ized by  the  Assembly  to  collect  the  same  duty  on  importa- 
tions by  land.  This  seems  to  have  been  done  with  the  assist- 
ance of  deputies,  and  was  evidently  effective,  as  no  further 
reference  to  this  matter  is  found  in  the  acts  of  Assembly.^ 

A  master  of  a  ship  or  an  importer  making  a  false  entry  as 
to  liquors  was  fined  £ioo.  A  collector  who  connived  at  such 
fraud  or  accepted  a  bribe  was  fined  £100,  and  was  debarred 
from  holding  any  office  connected  with  the  customs.  Any 
one  who  should  bribe  a  collector  was  also  to  be  fined  £100. 
The  granting  to  William  and  Mary  College  of  a  part  of  the 
revenue  arising  from  the  duty  on  liquors  did  not  affect  the 
relation  of  the  collectors  to  it. 

Collectors  of  the  Duty  on  Slaves. — From  1699  to  1738  the 
collectors  of  the  duty  on  slaves  were  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor ;  they  accounted  with  the  treasurer  of  the  colony,  who 
in  turn  reported  to  the  Assembly.  These  collectors  were 
allowed  at  first  six  per  cent,  later  ten  per  cent,  for  their 
services.     When  the  duty  was  changed  in  1732  to  a  per- 

iHening,  vol.  iii,  pp.  23,  88,  129,  189,  229;  vol.  iv,  pp.  144,  469;  vol. 
V,  p.  310;  vol.  vii,  p.  265. 
2  Ibid.,  vol.  iv,  pp.  146,  470. 


46  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION   OF  [222 

centage  on  the  purchase  price  of  each  slave,  the  importer 
was  required  to  pay  the  duty  to  the  collector  within  forty 
days ;  if  he  failed  to  do  this,  he  forfeited  £5  for  every  slave 
on  whom  the  duty  had  not  been  paid.  A  shipmaster  making 
a  false  entry  as  to  slaves  imported  was  fined  iioo,  and  a  col- 
lector who  accepted  a  bribe  and  the  one  who  offered  it  were 
each  fined  iioo.^  By  1738  every  importer  of  slaves  was 
constituted  a  collector,  and  the  regular  collectors  were  thus 
superseded.  In  most  cases  the  importation  of  slaves  was  by 
water,  but  by  this  time  some  were  brought  into  the  colony 
by  land,  and  those  receiving  them  were  of  course  required  to 
pay  the  duty.^  Should  a  person  not  a  resident  of  the  colony 
wish  to  obtain  slaves  to  sell,  he  was  required,  whether  they 
were  imported  by  water  or  by  land,  to  pay  the  duty  to  the 
naval  officer,  who  accounted  with  the  treasurer.  Later,  how- 
ever, the  seller  of  slaves  was  also  empowered  to  receive  the 
duty  from  non-residents,  and  to  account  with  the  treasurer.^ 
As  the  purchaser  within  the  colony  was  allowed  forty  (later 
thirty)  days  in  which  to  make  payment,  the  seller  was  re- 
quired to  furnish  the  treasurer  with  an  account  of  each  sale, 
together  with  the  name  of  the  purchaser  and  the  price  of  the 
slave.  If  the  seller  took  a  promissory  note,  this  was  also 
handed  to  the  treasurer,  who  thereupon  informed  the  sheriff 
of  the  county  in  which  the  sale  occurred,  and  he  collected  the 
duty.  Thus  by  1752  the  seller,  the  treasurer,  and  the  sheriff 
had  really  taken  the  place  of  the  former  collectors.  The 
sheriffs  accounted  annually  with  the  treasurer  for  the  duty 
and  received  six  per  cent  for  their  services.  If  the  pur- 
chaser so  desired,  he  might  pay  the  seller,  who  accounted 
with  the  treasurer  and  received  six  per  cent  for  his  services. 
By  1759  it  was  found  necessary  to  require  every  importer 
of  slaves  from  the  West  Indies,  Maryland,  Carolina,  or  any 
other  American  colony  to  take  an  oath  before  the  clerk  of 
the  county  court  of  his  county  as  to  the  slaves  disposed  of, 

^  Hening,  vol.  iii,  pp.  193,  233,  346,  492;  vol.  iv,  pp.  317,  472;  vol.  v, 
p.  28;  vol.  vi,  pp.  218,  419,  466;  vol.  vii,  p.  81;  vol.  viii,  p.  532. 
2  Ibid.,  vol.  V,  p.  28. 
2  Ibid.,  vol.  vi,  p.  217. 


223]  "^^^   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  47 

and  the  clerk  furnished  the  treasurer  and  the  sheriff  with 
this  information.* 

Collectors  of  the  Duty  on  Servants. — The  duty  on  servants 
imported,  laid  in  1699  but  not  mentioned  in  the  acts  of 
Assembly  after  1710,  was  received  by  collectors  appointed 
by  the  governor.  These  officers  were  paid  six  per  cent  for 
their  services,  were  stationed  in  the  six  revenue  districts  of 
the  colony,  and  cooperated  with  the  naval  officers  in  prevent- 
ing the  evasion  of  the  duty  when  ships  landed.  They  ac- 
counted with  the  treasurer.^ 

The  duties  on  liquors,  on  slaves  (until  1738),  and  on  serv- 
ants (until  discontinued)  were  received  by  one  collector 
only  in  each  of  the  six  revenue  districts  of  the  colony,  and  not 
by  three  collectors.  The  methods  of  collecting  these  reve- 
nues have  been  discussed  separately  in  order  to  make  clear 
the  changes  which  took  place.^ 

Treasurer. — The  office  of  treasurer  was  one  of  the  very 
earliest  in  the  colony.  Before  1624  the  treasurer  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  London  Company,  and  from  1624  to  1691  by 
the  king,  his  commission  bearing  the  royal  sign  manual.^ 
From  April,  1691,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Assembly.^  In 
case  of  emergency,  however,  the  governor  could  make  a 
temporary  appointment  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  As- 
sembly.^ Before  1699  the  treasurer  was  usually  a  member 
of  the  Council,  but  after  that  date  his  interests  were  with  the 
burgesses.  After  1691  he  was  practically  the  agent  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  and  the  representatives  of  the  people 

^  Hening,  vol.  vii,  p.  338. 

ilbid.,  vol.  iii,  pp.  193,  197,  346,  492;  Journal  of  the  House  of 
Burgesses,  1702-1705,  pp.  59,  120. 

2  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  1705-1706,  p.  160;  1710- 
1712.  pp.  270,  284;  1712-1714,  p.  38. 

1  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  167 5-1676,  no.  346 ;  1677-1680,  nos.  320,  Z77,  738 ; 
Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  xiv,  p.  267; 
Stanard,  p.  7. 

2  Hening,  vol.  iii,  p.  92;  vol.  v,  p.  64;  vol.  viii,  p.  211;  British  Mu- 
seum, King's  MSS.  no.  205,  p.  509;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1689-1692,  no. 
2284;  Stanard,  pp.  42,  43,  45. 

8  Hening,  vol.  iii,  p.  198;  vol.  vi,  p.  196;  vol.  viii,  p.  212. 


48  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION    OF  [224 

were  very  jealous  of  keeping  entire  control  of  this  office. 
He  was  independent  of  the  auditor  and  the  receiver-general, 
who  were  appointees  of  the  crown.  For  a  period  of  four- 
teen years  (i  677-1 691),  however,  the  office  of  treasurer 
was,  from  motives  of  economy,  united  by  the  governor  and 
the  Council  with  that  of  the  auditor.*  In  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  even  as  late  as  1664,  the  duties 
afterwards  assigned  the  receiver-general,  such  as  receiving 
quit-rents  and  other  royal  fees  and  profits,  were  performed 
by  the  treasurer  in  addition  to  the  usual  services  rendered 
by  him.^  From  1691  he  was  the  appointee  of  the  House  of 
Burgesses,  and  for  a  period  of  sixty-seven  years  (1699- 
1766)  the  duties  of  the  treasurer  were  performed  by  the 
speaker  of  the  House.^ 

This  close  relation  between  the  House  of  Burgesses 
and  the  treasurer  resembled  somewhat  the  position  of 
the  English  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  in  the  House  of 
Commons.  The  combination  proved  a  failure,  and  upon 
the  death  in  1766  of  John  Robinson,  who  had  served  for  a 
period  of  twenty-eight  years,  the  offices  were  separated.'^ 
The  House  of  Burgesses,  on  account  of  the  opportunity  for 
fraud  afforded  by  the  union  of  these  offices,  decided  to  sepa- 
rate them,  but  was  not  forced  to  do  so  by  the  British  govern- 
ment. Governor  Dinwiddle  complained  of  this  dual  office, 
but  nothing  seems  to  have  been  done  to  compel  the  House 
to  make  the  change.^ 

*  This  was  during  the  period  of  royalist  reaction,  after  the  Crom- 
welHan  period  (Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  p.  66;  Hartwell,  Blair, 
and  Chilton,  p.  61). 

5  Hening,  vol.  ii,  pp.  31,  83,  99. 

^Ibid.,  vol.  iii,  pp.  197,  199,  476,  481,  495;  vol.  iv,  pp.  135,  142,  150, 
433;  vol.  V,  pp.  64,  173;  vol.  vi,  p.  248;  vol.  vii,  p.  466;  vol.  viii,  p.  210. 

'^  This  was  after  the  administrators  of  his  estate  had  turned  over 
to  his  successor  £5607.  3s.  iid.  due  by  him  on  the  revenue  from  the 
duty  on  liquors  and  slaves,  and  £2500  of  money  appropriated  for  the 
Indian  trade.  As  there  were  no  banks  in  which  to  deposit  the  public 
funds,  it  was  customary  for  the  treasurer  to  lend  the  money  to  in- 
dividuals. Robinson  made  bad  loans  to  personal  and  political 
friends,  and  this  seriously  involved  his  estate. 

8  When  the  House  sent  Peyton  Randolph  to  England  in  1754  to 
protest  against  the  pistole  fee  imposed  by  Dinwiddie,  and  when  it 
granted  him  i25oo  for  his  services  and  delegated  him  to  appoint  a 


225]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  49 

The  usual  duties  of  the  treasurer  were  to  receive  the  reve- 
nues arising  from  the  duties  on  liquors,  servants,  and  slaves 
imported,  from  the  public  levy,  and  from  any  special  levy 
raised  by  act  of  Assembly,  and  to  borrow  money  on  the 
authority  of  that  body.®  Before  1691  he  was  dependent 
upon  royal  order  in  disposing  of  the  funds  entrusted  to  him, 
but  after  that  date  he  accounted  to  the  Assembly  for  all 
money  received  by  him,  and  paid  it  out  by  order  of  that  body 
or  by  warrant  issued  by  the  governor.  His  account,  after 
being  approved  by  the  Assembly  and  signed  by  the  governor, 
was  sent  to  the  auditor-general  of  the  colonies.^"  It  was  thus 
the  policy  of  the  British  government  to  supervise  the  whole 
revenue  system  of  the  colony,  although  the  funds  handled 
by  the  treasurer  were  considered  to  belong  to  the  province, 
and  to  be,  therefore,  not  under  direct  royal  control.  He 
was  empowered  by  the  Assembly  to  emit  treasury  notes  on 
special  occasions,  such  as  the  preparation  for  the  French 
and  Indian  War,  when  extra  funds  were  needed.^^  He  was 
directed  to  prosecute  any  one  refusing  to  pay  the  duties 
usually  received  by  him,  and  to  force  payment  of  the  duties 
on  liquors  and  slaves  by  compounding  the  penalties  inflicted 
for  refusal  or  neglect.^^ 

An  act  of  Assembly  of  November,  1645,  provided  that  the 
quit-rents  were  to  be  applied  first  to  the  payment  of  the 
treasurer's  salary  of  £500  a  year,  the  surplus  to  be  disposed 
of  by  the  Assembly.^^  This  was  done  with  the  approval  of 
the  British  government,  as  the  treasurer  was  then  a  royal 
official.    After  1691,  when  the  treasurer  was  appointed  by 

regular  agent  for  them  in  England,  with  an  annual  salary  of  £200, 
the  treasurer-speaker  agreed  to  pay  these  amounts  out  of  the  funds 
in  his  hands,  notwithstanding  the  strong  protest  of  Dinwiddie  and 
the  Council  (Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  i,  p.  160). 

sHening,  vol.  iii,  pp.  92,  495;  vol.  iv,  135,  148,  433;  vol.  v,  173;  vol. 
vi,  195,  218;  vol.  vii,  466;  Beverley,  p.  197. 

lOHening,  vol.  iii,  p.  495;  vol.  vi,  p.  195;  Calendar  of  Virginia 
State  Papers,  vol.  i,  pp.  30,  74,  113;  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  ii,  pp. 
490,  591 ;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1677-1680,  nos.  320,  332,  yzT,  Blathwayt, 
Virginia  Papers,  MS. 

1^  Hening,  vol.  vi,  pp.  467,  528. 

^2  Ibid.,  vol.  iv,  p.  473 ;  vol.  v,  p.  zZ^i. 

^3  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  306. 


so  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [226 

the  House  of  Burgesses,  he  was  paid  six  per  cent  on  the 
money  passing  through  his  office.  This  percentage  was  later 
reduced  to  five.  By  1734  he  was  also  being  paid  £50  a  year, 
which  was  gradually  increased  to  ^150,  for  auditing  and  set- 
tling the  accounts  of  the  inspectors  of  tobacco.  He  was  re- 
quired to  furnish  a  bond  of  £5000  sterling,  which  was  by 
degrees  raised  to  i  100,000.^*  The  governor  was  to  state 
his  approval  of  the  security  furnished  by  the  treasurer  and 
to  administer  the  oath  of  office  to  him. 

There  was  little  in  common  between  the  office  of  lord  high 
treasurer  and  that  of  treasurer  of  Virginia.  Both  officials, 
of  course,  were  custodians  of  public  funds,  but  as  far  as  the 
administration  of  the  two  offices  was  concerned,  there  was 
not  much  similarity,  except  that  previous  to  1691  the  treas- 
urer of  Virginia,  like  the  lords  commissioners  for  executing 
the  office  of  lord  high  treasurer,  was  appointed  by  the  king.^^ 

Inspectors  of  Tobacco. — The  cultivation  of  tobacco  was 
the  principal  occupation  of  the  colonists,  and  notwithstand- 
ing the  attempts  of  the  British  government  to  divert  the 
attention  of  some  of  them  from  this  to  other  products, 
tobacco  continued  to  be  raised.^  In  1622,  60,000  pounds  of 
tobacco  were  shipped  to  England;^  by  about  1700,  40,000 
hogsheads  containing  27,200,000  pounds  were  exported 
from  Virginia  every  year,^  and  in  1743  the  amount  ex- 
ported was  35,000  hogsheads.  It  was  estimated  that  in  1747 
Virginia  and  Maryland  together  exported  70,000  hogs- 
heads.* Warehouses,  established  by  act  of  Assembly  for 
the  storage  of  all  tobacco,  whether  for  sale,  for  monetary 
purposes,  or  for  export,  were  first  built  in  1632,  and  were 
always  located  conveniently  to  the  wharves.     They  were 

1*  Hening,  vol.  iii,  pp.  92,  476 ;  vol.  iv,  pp.  135,  433 ;  vol.  v,  pp.  64, 
173;  vol.  vi,  pp.  195,  248;  vol.  vii,  pp.  33,  242,  467;  vol.  viii,  p.  212. 

^5  Sir  W.  R.  Anson,  The  Law  and  Custom  of  the  Constitution,  pp. 
163-164. 

1  Bruce,  Economic  History  of  Virginia,  vol.  ii,  p.  413;  Andrews, 
Colonial  Self-Government,  p.  317. 

2  Bruce,  Economic  History  of  Virginia,  vol.  i,  p.  263. 

3  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1721-1734,  p.  84. 

*  C.  O.  5:  5,  202;  C.  Campbell,  History  of  the  Colony  and  Ancient 
Dominion  of  Virginia,  p.  444. 


2  27]  T^E  COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  51 

privately  owned,  but  were  maintained  at  the  public  expense, 
the  rent  of  them  ranging  from  £5  to  £50  a  year.  In  1742, 
in  the  case  of  most  of  them,  the  rent  was  changed  to  eight 
pence  on  every  hogshead  of  tobacco.  In  1769  this  was 
raised  to  ten  pence.'^ 

The  inspectors  of  the  tobacco  which  was  brought  to  these 
public  warehouses  were  at  first  members  of  the  Council,  who 
were  assisted  by  the  commissioners  of  monthly  courts, 
but  later  were  appointees  of  the  governor.®  By  1738  the 
county  courts  of  the  counties  in  which  public  warehouses 
were  located  recommended  annually  four  suitable  persons, 
from  whom  were  selected  two  for  each  warehouse.  The 
recommendation  by  the  county  court  was  not  essential,  for 
an  appointment  might  be  made  by  the  governor  without  it.^ 
There  were  usually  two  inspectors  for  each  warehouse;  in 
1732  there  were  altogether  seventy-one  warehouses  and  one 
hundred  and  thirty-three  inspectors,  increased  by  1765  to 
ninety-eight  warehouses  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  in- 
spectors.® By  1761  "  additional "  inspectors  were  appointed, 
who  were  to  serve  only  when  the  two  regular  inspectors  did 
not  agree  as  to  the  quality  of  tobacco,  or  when  one  of  them 
was  absent,  or  when  they  brought  their  own  tobacco  for 
inspection.^  The  duties  of  the  inspectors  were  to  break 
open,  "view  and  examine"  all  hogsheads  of  tobacco,  to 
see  if  the  tobacco  was  in  good  condition  and  "merchant- 
able," to  weigh  it,  and  to  stamp  the  hogshead.^"  They  col- 
lected the  special  tax  of  two  shillings  on  every  hogshead  of 

5  Hening,  vol.  i,  p.  204;  vol.  iv,  pp.  254,  382,  479;  vol.  v,  pp.  14,  145; 
vol.  vi,  pp.  177,  223,  352;  vol.  vii,  pp.  245,  532;  vol.  viii,  pp.  80,  324; 
Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1721-1734,  pp.  449,  451; 
Webb,  p.  330. 

8  Hening,  vol.  i,  p.  211 ;  vol.  iv,  p.  251. 

7  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1721-1734,  pp.  408,  471; 
Hening,  vol.  v,  pp.  10,  11,  129;  vol.  vi,  p.  159;  vol.  viii,  p.  86;  Calen- 
dar of  Virginia  State  Papers,  vol.  i,  p.  233 ;  Warwick  County,  Court 
Minutes,  39. 

8  Hening,  vol.  iv,  pp.  266,  334,  382;  vol.  v,  p.  144;  vol.  vi,  p.  175; 
vol.  viii,  p.  97;  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1721-1734, 
p.  440. 

9  Hening,  vol.  vii,  p.  387 ;  vol.  viii,  pp.  87,  89,  234. 

10  Ibid.,  vol.  iv,  p.  251 ;  vol.  vi,  p.  162. 


52  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION   OF  [228 

tobacco  received  at  their  warehouses,  which  was  imposed 
at  the  time  of  the  French  and  Indian  War.^^  They  were  re- 
quired to  take  an  oath  for  the  faithful  performance  of  these 
duties,  and  to  furnish  the  governor  with  a  bond  of  iiooo. 
This  was  reduced  in  1742  to  i200,  but  was  increased  in 
1748  to  £500.12 

The  salary  of  the  inspectors  was. at  first  small,  but  from 
about  1680  to  1732  each  received  i6o  a  year.  After  1732 
it  ranged  from  £25  to  £70  a  year,  and  was  specified  by  act 
of  Assembly  for  the  several  warehouses  according  to  their 
importance.i^  After  deducting  their  own  salary,  the  rent 
of  the  warehouse,  and  incidental  expenses,  inspectors  ac- 
counted annually  with  the  treasurer,  by  whom  the  account 
was  reported  to  the  Assembly,  for  the  inspection  fee  of  five 
shillings  paid  on  every  hogshead  by  the  person  to  whom  it 
was  delivered.  They  reported  to  the  county  court  the  dis- 
position of  all  tobacco  committed  to  their  custody,  and  also 
made  an  annual  report  to  the  commissioners  of  the  customs 
of  all  tobacco  inspected,  its  disposal,  if  it  was  exported,  by 
what  ship,  and  by  what  naval  officer  it  was  despatched.^* 

Any  one  wishing  to  pay  any  public  or  private  debt  could 
get  from  the  inspectors  notes  to  the  value  of  his  tobacco  in 
the  warehouse.  These  notes,  known  as  "  crop  notes  "  and 
"transfer  notes,"  were  used  as  legal  tender.  They  were 
usually  current  only  in  the  county  where  they  were  issued, 
but  passed  occasionally  in  an  adjacent  county  provided 
the  counties  were  not  separated  by  a  very  wide  river.  They 
were  payable  on  demand  by  the  inspectors  who  signed  them, 

11  Hening,  vol.  vii,  p.  333;  vol.  viii,  p.  no.  This  was  in  addition  to 
the  duty  of  two  shillings  on  every  hogshead,  paid  to  the  royal  col- 
lectors at  the  ports. 

12  Ibid.,  vol.  iv,  p.  261 ;  vol.  v,  p.  130;  vol.  vi,  p.  161 ;  vol.  viii,  p.  88. 

13  Ibid.,  vol.  iv,  pp.  262,  334,  385 ;  vol.  v,  pp.  144,  325 ;  vol.  vi,  pp. 
17s,  352,  473;  vol.  vii,  p.  532;  vol.  viii,  pp.  97,  323,  5o8.  In  1755  and 
in  1758,  on  account  of  the  small  tobacco  crops,  the  inspectors  re- 
ceived instead  of  their  usual  salaries  three  shilHngs  a  hogshead  on 
"crop  tobacco,"  and  five  shillings  on  "transfer  tobacco"  (ibid.,  vol. 
vi,  p.  567;  vol.  vii,  p.  244). 

i*Ibid.,  vol.  iv,  pp.  252,  260;  vol.  v,  pp.  125,  158;  vol.  vi,  pp.  155. 
190,  224 ;  vol.  viii,  pp.  70,  82,  95,  324. 


229]  THE    COLONY   OF  VIRGINIA  53 

within  one  year,  after  which  time  they  were  not  legal 
tender.^" 

Inspectors  while  in  office  and  for  two  years  afterwards 
were  ineligible  to  membership  in  the  House  of  Burgesses, 
and  could  take  no  part  in  elections,  under  a  penalty  of  £50. 
The  reason  for  this  is  indicated  in  the  preamble  of  the  law 
passed  in  1736:  "Whereas  divers  inspectors  have  busied 
themselves  in  the  election  of  burgesses,  and  used  the  power 
of  their  offices,  in  influencing  such  elections,  as  well  for  pro- 
curing themselves,  as  others,  to  be  elected,  to  the  hindrance 
of  the  freedom  of  voting,"  and  so  on.^*  In  the  effort  to  pre- 
vent fraud  on  the  part  of  inspectors,  it  was  specified  by  an 
act  of  Assembly  in  1738  that  no  inspector  should  be  a  col- 
lector of  quit-rents  or  of  any  public,  county,  or  parish 
levies,  or  of  any  officers'  fees.^^  This  law  was  repealed  in 
1752,  but  reenacted  in  1765.^®  That  the  colonists  sometimes 
purchased  this  office  may  be  inferred  from  the  act  of  As- 
sembly, passed  in  1748,  to  prevent  the  buying  or  selling  of 
the  office  of  inspector,  and  fixing  the  penalty  at  i  100  fine 
and  ineligibility  to  the  office.^®  It  seems  that  it  was  neces- 
sary further  to  check  the  tendency  toward  fraud  by  enacting 
a  law  prohibiting  an  inspector  from  accepting  anv  gift  or 
gratuit)''  other  than  his  salary,  under  a  penalty  of  £50.  It 
was  also  provided  that  no  inspector  should  buy,  sell,  or  ex- 
change any  tobacco  in  'his  warehouse.  In  1742  justices  of 
the  peace  were  empowered  to  visit  warehouses  to  ascertain 
if  the  inspectors  were  faithfully  discharging  their  duty,  and 
to  report  any  irregularity  to  the  governor.^'' 

That  some  planters  evaded  the  law  and  disposed  of  their 
tobacco  without  having  brought  it  to  the  public  warehouse 

15  Hening,  vol.  iv,  pp.  251,  254,  386;  vol.  v,  pp.  133-138;  vol.  vi,  pp. 
163,  168,  256,  475;  vol.  viii,  pp.  90-104;  Webb,  p.  336.  First  men- 
tioned in  acts  of  Assembly  of  May,  1730. 

i«  Hening,  vol.  iv,  p.  481;  vol.  v,  p.  153;  vol.  vi,  p.  185;  vol.  vii,  p. 
529;  vol.  viii,  pp.  95,  316. 

I'^Ibid.,  vol.  V,  pp.  II,  153;  vol.  vi,  p.  185. 

18  Ibid.,  vol.  vi,  p.  226;  vol.  viii,  p.  95. 

i^Ibid.,  vol.  vi,  p.  160;  vol.  viii,  p.  87. 

20  Ibid.,  vol.  iv,  p.  263 ;  vol.  v,  pp.  154,  158 ;  vol.  vi,  pp.  160,  185 ;  vol. 
viii,  p.  95. 


54  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [23O 

is  evident  from  a  law  passed  in  1738  requiring  inspectors, 
sheriffs,  and  constables  to  take  an  oath  in  the  county  court 
to  report  to  the  justices  of  the  peace  all  cases  of  such  viola- 
tion, or  of  tobacco  carried  to  Maryland  or  North  Carolina 
without  a  permit.^^  The  master  of  every  ship  was  required 
to  take  an  oath  before  a  naval  officer  that  he  would  not 
permit  any  uninspected  tobacco  to  be  taken  on  board,  under 
penalty  of  a  fine  of  £20  and  forfeiture  of  the  tobacco.  He 
was  to  furnish  the  naval  officer  with  two  manifests  of  all 
tobacco  on  board,  one  of  which  was  annexed  to  the  clear- 
ance certificate  to  be  delivered  by  the  master  of  the  ship  to 
the  customs  official  at  his  destination,  and  the  other  was 
sent  to  the  customs  official  by  the  naval  officer.^^ 

Pilots. — The  pilots  of  the  ships  on  the  larger  rivers  and 
Chesapeake  Bay  were  appointed  by  the  governor.^  The 
act  of  Assembly  of  1661  establishing  a  system  of  pilots  was 
from  time  to  time  reenacted  for  periods  of  from  three  to 
seven  years,  and  the  governor  was  empowered  to  make  ap- 
pointments. By  1762  the  county  court  of  each  of  the  mari- 
time counties  had  been  empowered  to  name  three  men,  who 
examined  all  persons  applying  for  positions  as  pilots  and 
made  the  appointment.^  The  penalty  for  acting  as  pilot 
without  a  commission  was  a  fine  of  £10  for  the  first  offense, 
increased  to  £20  and  £40  for  second  and  third  offenses.^ 

The  duties  of  the  pilots  were  to  keep  themselves  in  readi- 
ness to  render  the  necessary  aid  in  piloting  ships  on  the 
rivers  and  the  bay,  and  to  provide  beacons.  For  the  latter 
service  they  were  paid  by  the  Assembly.  For  conducting 
a  merchant  vessel  the  pilot  was  paid  the  specified  fees  by  the 
master  of  the  ship,  but  in  case  of  ships  of  war  or  other 
vessels  of  the  British  government,  he  applied  to  the  Council 

21  Hening,  vol.  v,  pp.  13,  151 ;  vol.  vi,  p.  183 ;  vol.  viii,  p.  75. 

22  Ibid.,  vol.  v,  p.  141 ;  vol.  vi,  p.  157 ;  vol.  viii,  p.  72. 

^Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1692-1693,  p.  139;  1705- 
1721,  p.  100;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1689-1692,  no.  1845;  1693-1696,  no.  21. 

2  Hening,  vol.  ii,  p.  35;  vol.  vi,  p.  490;  vol.  vii,  p.  580;  vol.  viii,  pp. 
197,  353,  542. 

8  Ibid.,  vol.  vi,  pp.  490-493 ;  vol.  vii,  p.  581. 


231]  THE  COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  55 

for  compensation.*  The  fees  to  be  charged  were  specified 
by  act  of  Assembly  for  every  stretch  of  the  rivers  and  the 
bay  where  guides  were  needed.®  The  services  rendered  by 
the  pilots  were  recognized  as  quite  valuable,  especially  those 
in  connection  with  the  merchant  vessels,  which  were  closely 
related  to  the  revenue  system  of  the  colony.^ 

Postmaster. — Before  1692,  postal  affairs  in  America  were 
left  to  the  colonies  themselves,  but  with  very  unsatisfactory 
results.  On  February  17,  1692,  Thomas  Neal  was  author- 
ized by  letters  patent  under  the  great  seal  to  have  charge 
for  twenty-one  years  of  the  administration  of  the  postal 
affairs  in  all  the  colonies  on  the  mainland  of  North  America 
and  the  adjacent  islands.  He  did  not  personally  perform 
the  duties  of  this  office,  but  nominated  as  his  deputy  Andrew 
Hamilton  of  East  Jersey,  who  was  commissioned  by  the 
postmaster-general  of  England  in  pursuance  of  a  royal 
order.  Andrew  Hamilton  commissioned  Peter  Heyman  to 
serve  as  his  deputy  in  Maryland  and  Virginia.  Heyman 
presented  his  commission  to  the  governor  and  Council  of 
Virginia,  whereupon  a  proclamation  was  issued  to  make 
known  the  royal  pleasure  and  to  assure  Heyman  of  the 
cooperation  of  the  colony.^  The  Council,  with  the  House, 
passed  an  act^  which  acknowledged  that  the  act  of  Parlia- 
ment establishing  the  post-office  was  to  be  enforced  in  the 
colony,  but  it  was  not  enforced  for  several  years.  There  was 
objection  to  the  royal  postal  system  in  the  colony,  and  it  was 
not  until  1718  that  the  post-office  was  actually  established 
in  Virginia.     Spotswood  in  a  letter  to  the  Board  of  Trade 

*  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  Extra  Session,  October 
23,  1722. 

^  Hening,  vol.  ii,  p.  35;  vol.  vi,  p.  490;  vol.  vii,  p.  580.  From  Cape 
Henry  or  Lynnhaven  Bay  to  Hampton  Roads  or  Sewell's  Point,  £1 ; 
Cape  Henry  to  Smith's  Point  on  Potomac  River,  £5.  Other  points 
on  the  bay,  and  on  the  James,  York,  Rappahannock,  and  Potomac 
Rivers  are  also  mentioned,  with  the  fees  to  be  charged. 

8  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  no. 

ilbid.,  1692-1693,  p.  135;  Sainsbury,  1691-1697,  pp.  112,  147;  Vir- 
ginia Gazette,  April  21-28,  1738. 

2  Hening,  vol.  ii,  p.  112. 


56  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [232 

of  June  24,  1718,  said:  "The  people  were  made  to  believe 
tiiat  the  Parliament  could  not  lay  any  tax  ( for  so  they  call 
the  rates  of  postage)  here,  without  the  consent  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly."  He  also  referred  to  the  rates  of  postage 
as  "this  branch  of  the  king's  revenue."^  One  of  the  de- 
clared purposes  of  the  new  postal  law  of  1710,  passed  by 
Parliament,  was  to  raise  a  war  revenue,  and  a  weekly  pay- 
ment of  £700  had  to  be  made  to  the  royal  treasury.  The 
people  of  New  England  did  not  object  to  this  regulation,* 
but  the  Virginians  held  that  Parliament  could  not  thus  tax 
them  without  their  consent.  It  seems,  however,  that  this 
opposition  gradually  declined,  for  after  1718  they  apparently 
raised  no  objection  to  the  postal  system  on  this  ground. 

The  instructions  to  the  governor  informing  him  of  the  ap- 
pointment of  Neal  stated  that  letters  and  parcels  were  to  be 
transmitted  "under  such  rates  and  sums  of  money  as  the 
planters  shall  agree  to  give,  or  as  shall  be  proportionable  to 
the  rates  for  the  carriage  of  letters  ascertained  in  the  act 
of  Parliament  for  erecting  and  establishing  a  post  office."" 
In  March,  1692/3,  the  Virginia  Assembly  fixed  the  rates  of 
postage;  these  became  effective  as  soon  as  the  colony  sub- 
mitted to  the  postal  system,  which  was  about  1718.^     Mer- 

^  Spotswood  Letters,  vol.  ii,  p.  280. 

*  E.  B.  Greene,  Provincial  America,  p.  41. 

5  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1692-1693,  p.  135. 

«  Hening,  vol.  iii,  p.  112 ;  Regulations  of  the  Colonial  Post  Office,  MS. 

Letter  of  one  sheet,  distance  not  over  80  miles    3d. 

"       "    two  sheets,       "          "              "      "         6d. 

"    one  sheet,        "        over          "      "        46. 

"    two  sheets,       "          "             "      "         pd. 

Every  additional  sheet  for  any  distance 5d. 

Writs,  deeds,  etc.,  per  ounce,  not  over  80  miles I2d. 

"         "       "        "       over  80  miles   i8d. 

The  rates  were  later  increased  as  follows : — 

Letter  of  one     sheet,  distance  not  over  60  miles  4d. 

"       "  two    sheets,       "          "       "      "      "  8d. 

"       "  three  sheets,       "          "       "      "       "  is. 

"  one     sheet,         "          "       "     100     "  6d. 

"       "  two     sheets,       "          "       "      "       "  is. 

"       "  three  sheets,       "          "       "      "       "  is.    6d. 


233]  "^^^   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  57 

chants'  accounts,  bills  of  lading,  and  bills  of  exchange  were 
considered  double  letters,  but  this  system  of  rates  did  not 
prevent  merchants  from  sending  letters  by  shipmasters. 
The  official  letters  of  the  colony  were,  of  course,  exempted 
from  postage.  Writs  of  courts  and  letters  which  the  writers 
preferred  to  despatch  privately  did  not  have  to  be  sent 
through  the  post-office. 

When  the  post-office  was  in  actual  operation  in  the  colony, 
the  irregularities  were  so  pronounced  that  the  Assembly 
passed  an  act  complaining  of  them.  It  was  charged  that  the 
postmaster,  knowing  that  the  post-office  was  at  a  great  dis- 
tance from  many  people,  had  taken  possession  of  letters 
from  masters  of  s'hips  and  kept  them  for  several  months. 
The  commission  to  Neal  had  specified  that  he  or  his  deputy 
should  establish  at  Neal's  expense  post-offices  in  each  county, 
but  this  was  not  done.  It  was  also  charged  that  the  post- 
master took  from  ships  other  letters,  intended  to  have 
been  delivered  directly  to  the  addressees  and  not  to  have 
passed  through  the  post-office,  and  not  only  required  postage 
for  them,  but  also  opened  them  and  in  some  cases  took 
money  from  them.  The  Assembly  sought  to  remedy  these 
irregularities  by  ordering  masters  of  ships  to  furnish  to 
the  postmaster  a  list  of  letters,  giving  the  address  of  each, 
to  serve  as  a  guarantee  of  their  safe  delivery.  An  authority 
on  conditions  in  the  colony,  writing  in  1724,  said:  "The 
last  thing  I  shall  mention  with  regard  to  the  advantage  of 
trade  in  Virginia,  is  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  better  regula- 
tion of  the  post  office  there,  for  the  safe  and  quicker  convey- 
ance of  letters.'"^     In  1738  Ex-Governor  Spotswood,  then 

From  New  York  (main  office  in  America)  to  Williamsburg  (main 
office  in  Virginia)  : — 

Letter  of  one     sheet   is.    3d. 

"       "    two     sheets    2s.    6d. 

"       "   three  sheets  3s.    96. 

From  New  York  to  London : — 

Letter  of  one     sheet  is. 

"       "    two     sheets   2s. 

"       "   three  sheets  3s. 

7  Jones,  p.  150. 


58  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [234 

postmaster-general  of  the  American  colonies,  improved  the 
system  by  the  use  of  stages.  He  arranged  the  longer  routes 
in  relays,  so  that  one  postman  did  not  travel  the  whole  dis- 
tance, but  was  relieved  at  a  certain  point.  This  plan  was 
adopted  on  the  route  between  Williamsburg,  Virginia,  and 
Philadelphia.  The  stage  route  between  Williamsburg,  Vir- 
ginia, and  Edenton,  North  Carolina,  furnished  a  monthly 
mail  service.^ 

In  addition  to  the  usual  duties  of  the  postal  service,  the 
postmaster  was  to  have  been  given  the  general  supervision 
of  the  ferries.^  The  governor,  on  July  24,  1695,  in  calling 
the  attention  of  the  Council  to  the  post-office,  stated  that  it 
had  not  been  put  on  a  firm  basis  in  the  colony,  nor  had  the 
ferries,  which  were  vested  in  the  postmaster.  Hening's 
statutes  covering  the  period  from  1692  to  1775  show,  how- 
ever, that  the  ferries  were  established  by  the  Assembly,  that 
the  fees  were  also  fixed  by  this  body,  and  that  the  ferry 
keepers  were  appointed  by  the  Assembly  and  later  by  the 
county  court.^"  Thus  the  royal  power,  represented  by  the 
postmaster,  did  not  extend,  as  was  evidently  intended,  to  the 
ferries.  The  postal  system  of  the  colony,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  under  royal  supervision,  and  the  postmaster-general  in 
England  sent  from  time  to  time,  in  addition  to  the  instruc- 
tions to  his  deputy  in  the  colony,  certain  directions  to  the 
governor,  by  whom  reports  were  made  regarding  postal 
affairs  to  the  lords  of  the  treasury.^^ 

English  Merchants. — The  policy  adopted  by  Charles  II  in 
regard  to  the  colonies  was  largely  influenced  by  the  mer- 
chants of  London,  who  desired  the  cooperation  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  their  plans  to  profit  by  trade  with  America. 
Martin  Noell  and  Thomas   Povey,   two  wealthy  and  in- 

8  Virginia  Gazette,  April  21-28,  1738. 

»  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1693-1696,  no.  1975 ;  Sainsbury,  1691-1697,  p.  147. 

10  Hening,  vols,  iii-viii.  In  1705  there  were  50  ferries,  and  in  1748 
there  were  no. 

J^^  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Papers,  1697-1701,  pp.  289,  513;  Sainsbury,  vol. 
iii,  p.  776;  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  1702^1705,  pp. 
21,  52,  72. 


235]  "^HE    COLONY   OF   VIRGINIA  59 

fluential  London  dealers,  controlled  a  group  who  about  1660 
and  later  endeavored  to  monopolize  the  trade  with  America 
and  the  West  Indies,  and  exerted  no  small  influence  over 
colonial  affairs.^  Merchants  were  frequently  in  attendance 
at  the  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  had  much  power, 
not  only  in  regard  to  appointments,  but  also  as  to  many 
matters  of  concern  to  the  colony.-  In  1752  they  objected  to 
the  proposed  lighthouse  at  Cape  Henry,  on  account  of  the 
tax  on  ships  which  would  be  levied  to  pay  for  it.  The  act 
of  the  Virginia  Assembly  for  this  purpose  was  repealed  by 
order  of  the  king,  and  it  was  not  until  1772  that  the  light- 
house was  established.^  Since  certain  dealers  shipped  liquor 
and  slaves  to  the  colony,  it  was  but  natural  that  they  should 
petition  the  Board  of  Trade  against  the  duties  imposed  in 
Virginia  on  these  imports.*  The  influence  of  the  merchants 
was  recognized  by  certain  men  in  the  colony  who  desired 
endorsement  by  them  of  their  petitions  to  the  Board  of 
Trade."  By  means  of  bills  of  exchange  on  London  mer- 
chants the  governor  paid  the  solicitor  of  Virginia  affairs  in 
London,  and  discharged  other  public  and  private  obliga- 
tions." 

Micajah  Perry,  another  London  merchant,  is  a  striking 
example  of  the  influence  which  the  English  traders  exerted 
in  the  affairs  of  the  colony.  He  was  at  one  time  solicitor 
of  affairs  for  Virginia  and  Maryland.'''  Later,  when  not 
serving  in  this  capacity,  he  was  instructed  by  the  receiver- 
general,  upon  an  order  of  the  Council,  to  reimburse  the 
solicitor  of  Virginia  affairs  for  expenditures  in  the  interest 
of  the  colony,  and  to  "advance,  from  time  to  time,  what 
he  shall  hereafter  have  occasion  for  in  his  negotiations."^ 

1  C.  M.  Andrews,  "  British  Committees,  Commissions,  and  Coun- 
cils of  Trade  and  Plantations,"  in  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies, 
ser.  xxvi,  nos.  1-3,  pp.  49-55. 

2  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  xix,  pp.  277,  394;  vol.  xxx, 
pp.  356,  468. 

3  Ibid.,  vol.  Ixvii,  p.  3;  vol.  Ixviii,  p.  190;  Hening,  vol.  viii,  p.  539. 
*  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  xxxiv,  p.  2. 

5  Ibid.,  vol.  xlii,  p.  TZ- 

8  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  i,  p.  252;  vol.  ii,  pp.  50,  277. 
7Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1696-1697,  no.  1157;  1701,  nos.  184,  y(i^. 
8  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  117. 


60  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION   OF  [236 

He  recommended  prospective  councillors  to  the  Board  of 
Trade,  and  was  frequently  summoned  by  that  body  to  give 
his  opinion  on  laws  of  Virginia  affecting  trade.  He  fur- 
nished the  colony  with  certain  stores,  presented  to  the  com- 
missioners of  the  prize  office  the  request  of  the  agent  of 
prizes  in  Virginia  for  special  compensation,  and  for  service 
rendered  the  colony  was  paid  in  bills  of  exchange  drawn  by 
the  governor.®  He  was  on  the  bond  of  William  Byrd,  the 
receiver-general,  for  £10,000,  and  later  on  that  of  another 
receiver-general,  John  Grymes,  for  i6ooo.^°  He  used  his 
influence  with  the  auditor-general  of  the  revenues  to  have 
Philip  Ludwell  appointed  auditor  of  Virginia.^^  He  and  his 
brother  Richard  offered  a  petition  in  behalf  of  William 
Byrd,  the  receiver-general,  for  the  renewal  of  his  appoint- 
ment.^^ He  kept  in  constant  communication  with  William 
Byrd,  on  certain  occasions  paid  money  into  the  exchequer 
on  instructions  from  him,^^  and  once  petitioned  the  lords 
of  the  treasury  for  an  increase  of  Byrd's  salary  from  four 
to  five  per  cent.^^  In  1705  the  receiver-general  of  Virginia, 
by  order  of  Council,  remitted  to  Micajah  Perry  and  Com- 
pany a  bill  of  exchange  for  £1669,  which  was  the  amount  of 
the  quit-rents  for  1704.^'  He  had  a  brother  who  was  a 
merchant  in  York  County,  Virginia,  and  a  nephew  who  was 
a  merchant  in  Charles  City  County.^^  His  interest  in 
colonial  affairs  was  not  confined  to  Virginia,  and  on  one 
occasion  he  furnished  the  colony  of  New  York  with  £8000.^^ 
That  he  had  much  influence  with  British  officials,  and  played 

®  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  p.  36;  Journal  of  the  Board 
of  Trade,  vol.  xii,  p.  147;  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1699,  no.  1050;  Virginia 
Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  iii,  p.  232. 

10  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books  and  Papers,  1729-1730,  no.  6/^;  Blath- 
wayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  p.  360;  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia, 
MS.,  1705-1721,  app.,  p.  54- 

1^  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  iv,  pp.  15, 
16,  20. 

12  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Papers,  1714-1719,  P-  9i- 

13  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Papers,  1708-1714,  p.  151. 

14  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  p.  541. 

15  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  xvi,  p.  TZ- 
18  William  and  Mary  College  Quarterly,  vol.  xvii,  pp.  264,  265. 
17  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Papers,  1708-1714,  p.  151. 


237]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  6 1 

an  important  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  colony,  is  thus  quite 
apparent. 

Certain  merchants  occupied  in  some  instances  an  inter- 
mediate position  between  the  governor  and  the  British 
authorities.  Regarding  supplies  of  various  kinds  furnished 
by  Dinwiddie  to  the  military  company  ordered  to  Virginia 
by  the  British  government,  Dinwiddie  wrote  to  Messrs.  J. 
and  C.  Hanbury,  London  merchants,  as  follows :  "  I  must 
beg  you  to  apply  to  the  secretary  of  state  and  the  secretary 
of  war,  to  qualify  me  to  draw  for  reimbursement."^^  The 
next  year,  1755,  in  a  letter  to  the  secretary  of  state  he  said : 
"Agreeable  and  in  obedience  to  his  majesty's  commands, 
I  have  transmitted  my  warrant  to  the  paymaster  general  of 
the  army,  for  £2000,  payable  to  Mr.  J.  Hanbury,  from  the 
revenue  of  two  shillings  per  hogshead  on  tobacco."^®  On 
other  occasions  the  same  merchant  transacted  business  for 
Dinwiddie.  The  following  incident  will  help  to  show  the 
several  governmental  services  rendered.  In  1754  Dinwiddie 
wrote  to  the  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Admiralty:  "I 
desire  you  will  send  me  thirty  passes,  and  Mr.  John  Han- 
bury will  pay  you  for  those  you  last  sent  me."^**  A  letter 
to  the  Earl  of  Grenville,  the  proprietor  of  North  Carolina, 
regarding  a  sum  of  money  forwarded  to  him  by  his  agent 
in  North  Carolina  through  Dinwiddie,  makes  this  statement : 
"  I  enclose  your  lordship  my  own  draft  on  Messrs.  J.  and  C. 
Hanbury  for  i429."2i 

The  British  government  thus  recognized  the  important 
part  which  the  merchants  had  in  the  development  of  the 
colonial  trade,  and  also  in  the  actual  administration  of 
affairs.  A  striking  example  of  the  encouragement  given  by 
it  to  these  men  is  shown  in  the  clause  in  the  instructions  to 
the  governors  of  Virginia  from  Culpeper  (1682)  to  Dun- 
more  (1771)   directing  them  to  render  assistance  to  mer- 

1*  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  i,  pp.  252,  337 ;  vol.  ii,  p.  271.  He  was 
reimbursed  out  of  the  two  shillings  per  hogshead  revenue  the  £1040 
which  he  had  expended. 

1^  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  50. 

20  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  105. 

21  Ibid.,  p.  136. 


62  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [238 

chants,  and  especially  to  the  Royal  African  Company  of 
England.  This  company  was  encouraged  by  the  British 
government  to  furnish  regularly  a  supply  of  "  merchantable 
negroes"  to  Virginia,  at  "moderate  rates."  The  king's 
dividend  in  this  company  was  £322.  los.  a  year.^^  The  gov- 
ernor was  ordered  to  prevent  any  trading  between  Virginia 
and  the  part  of  Africa  under  the  jurisdiction  of  that  com- 
pany, and  to  report  annually  the  number  of  negroes 
brought  in. 

The  British  government  further  endeavored  to  protect 
this  and  other  companies  by  a  special  clause  in  the  in- 
structions to  the  governor  (Earl  of  Albemarle)  in  1738, 
regarding  the  courts  of  the  colony.  It  stated  that  owing  to 
the  frequent  adjournment  of  the  courts,  the  Royal  African 
Company  and  others  were  prevented  from  recovering  debts 
due  them.  The  governor  was  to  see  that  this  irregularity 
was  not  repeated,  and  also  to  refuse  to  give  his  assent  to  any 
act  of  the  Assembly  imposing  a  duty  on  negroes  imported 
into  the  colony,  to  the  "  great  discouragement  of  merchants 
trading  to  Africa."  Notwithstanding  the  unquestionable 
support  of  the  Royal  African  Company  by  the  British  gov- 
ernment, this  instruction  was  not  strictly  executed,  for  the 
British  government  approved  certain  acts  for  this  purpose. 
The  preamble  of  these  acts,  however,  specified  that  the  duty 
was  for  "  lessening  the  levy  by  poll,"  for  "  building  the 
capitol,"  for  paying  the  debt  incurred  by  the  French  and 
Indian  War,  and  for  "  other  public  charges."  The  revenue 
from  this  duty  was  thus  appropriated  to  the  support  of  the 
government,  which  fact  no  doubt  accounted  for  the  approval 
of  the  British  authorities.  The  real  motive  of  the  colonists 
in  laying  a  duty  on  slaves  was  to  prevent  the  increasing  im- 
portation of  them.  In  addition,  as  late  as  1772  the  bur- 
gesses requested  the  king  that  for  the  good  of  the  colony  the 
slave  trade,  long  considered  a  "  trade  of  great  inhumanity," 
might  be  abolished.     They  referred  to  the  merchants   as 

22  British  Museum,  Add.  MSS.  no.  10119,  f.  216.  This  was  for  the 
period  1^5-1689.     The  dividend  was  no  doubt  continued. 


239]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  63 

follows:  "We  are  sensible  that  some  of  your  majesty's  sub- 
jects in  Great  Britain  may  reap  emoluments  from  this  sort 
of  traffic,  but  when  we  consider  that  it  greatly  retards  the 
settlement  of  the  colonies  with  more  useful  inhabitants,  and 
may  in  time  have  the  most  destructive  influence,  we  presume 
to  hope  that  the  interest  of  the  few  will  be  disregarded  when 
placed  in  competition  with  the  security  and  happiness  of 
such  numbers."^^ 

In  the  seventeenth  century  very  few  ships  were  owned 
by  the  colonists.  By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  number  had  gradually  increased,  but  even  then  the 
British-owned  vessels  far  exceeded  those  owned  by  the  colo- 
nists. Robert  Dinwiddle,  then  surveyor-general  of  the 
customs  for  the  southern  district  of  America,  in  his  report 
on  Virginia  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  one  of  the  principal 
secretaries  of  state,  said  that  in  1743  there  were  fifty  ships 
owned  by  Virginians,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  British  ships 
trading  in  the  colony.  To  encourage  the  colonists  in  owning 
ships,  the  Assembly  exempted  them  f  romi  castle  duties — later 
known  as  port  duties — 'the  two  shillings  a  hogshead  on  tobacco 
exported,  the  duty  on  liquors  for  a  brief  period,  and  half  of 
the  naval  officers'  and  collectors'  fees.^*  The  British  mer- 
chants maintained  that  this  was  an  unjust  discrimination, 
as  they  were  required  to  pay  duties  and  fees  from  which  the 
colonists  were  relieved.  The  exemptions  from  the  port  duty 
and  the  duty  of  two  shillings  a  hogshead  are  not  mentioned 
in  the  acts  of  Assembly  after  1710,  and  that  from  half  the 
naval  officers'  and  collectors'  fees,  after  1748.  The  British 
authorities,  yielding  to  the  desire  of  the  traders,  disallowed 
certain  acts  which  contained  these  exemptions.^^ 

It  is  quite  evident  that  the  interests  of  the  merchants  were 
conserved  at  the  expense  of  the  colonists,  who  from  time  to 
time  endeavored  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  colony.    The 

23  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  1770-1772,  p.  283. 

24  Hening,  vol.  i,  pp.  402,  536 ;  vol.  ii,  pp.  134,  272 ;  vol.  iii,  pp.  23, 
88,  347,  352,  494;  vol.  vi,  p.  97. 

25  C.  O.  5:  5,  fs.  61-62,  200-203;  Journal  of  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses, 1710-1712,  p.  281. 


64  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [24O 

merchants  opposed  any  plan  of  the  colonists  that  would  ren- 
der them  less  dependent  upon  commercial  intercourse  with 
England.  The  Board  of  Trade,  reporting  to  Parliament  a 
letter  from  Governor  Gooch  of  Virginia  of  February  i, 
1732/3,  said  that  "  Major  Gooch  in  his  letter  of  Oct.  5th 
last,  informed  us  that  there  is,  now,  no  act  subsisting  in  that 
province,  which  can,  in  any  sense,  be  said  to  affect  the  British 
trade.  That  since  the  last  returns  to  us  upon  this  subject, 
there  hath  been  one  potters'  work  set  up  in  Virginia,  for 
coarse  earthenware,  but  that  this  is  of  so  little  consequence, 
that  he  believes  it  has  occasioned  little  or  no  diminution  of 
the  earthenware  that  used  to  be  imported.  That  they  have 
now  four  iron  works  in  that  colony,  employed  in  running  pig 
iron  only,  which  is  afterwards  sent  to  Great  Britain  to  be 
forged  and  manufactured."^^ 

That  the  merchants  occupied  a  position  of  much  influence 
is  quite  apparent,  and  that  they  often  used  this  influence  in 
their  own  interest  to  so  marked  a  degree  as  to  provoke  the 
colonists  is  clearly  shown  by  the  remonstrances  against  them. 
There  was  more  or  less  complaint  during  the  period  from 
1700  to  1775 ;  in  fact,  the  dissatisfaction  dated  back  to  1660. 
The  protest  against  the  oppressive  demands  of  the  merchants 
in  1732  resulted  in  the  petition  known  as  "The  Case  of  the 
Planters  of  Tobacco  in  Virginia,"  which  was  sent  to  the 
British  government  by  a  special  agent.  This  was  a  memo- 
rial of  the  Assembly,  and  was  approved  by  Governor  Gooch  f^ 
it  complained  of  the  British  merchants,  who  had  added  to  the 
already  heavy  transportation  and  customs  duties  other  de- 
mands which  made  it  impossible  for  the  planters  to  make  a 
profit.     This  petition  was  not  answered  favorably. 

The  action  of  the  merchants  somewhat  later  in  regard  to 
the  paper  money  of  the  colony  served  to  antagonize  the  colo- 
nists still  further.  On  May  19,  1763,  Governor  Fauquier 
in  a  speech  to  the  Assembly  referred  to  a  special  instruction 
recently  received  and  communicated  to  that  body,  regarding 

2«  C.  O.  S :  5,  f.  2. 

27  Gooch  in  a  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  July  20,  1732,  com- 
mended Sir  John  Randolph,  the  special  agent  of  the  Assembly. 


241]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  6$ 

the  payment  in  sterling  coin  of  debts  owed  to  British  mer- 
chants. This  instruction  had  not  been  obeyed,  and  upon  a 
renewal  of  the  complaint  of  the  merchants  to  the  Board  of 
Trade,  the  governor  had  been  again  informed  of  the  en- 
dorsement of  the  claim  of  the  merchants,  and  copies  of  the 
resolutions  of  the  Board  regarding  this  matter  had  been  sent 
to  him. 

In  laying  these  resolutions  before  the  Assembly,  the 
governor  said :  "  I  have  never  yet  deceived  you,  and  I  will 
not  now  attempt  it ;  but  in  plain  language  inform  you  that  all 
endeavors  to  evade  their  force  will  prove  fruitless,  and 
plunge  you  still  deeper  in  his  majesty's  displeasure.  It  is 
absolutely  necessary  that  something  should  be  done  to  give 
the  merchants  that  satisfaction  for  which  they  call  upon  you, 
and  for  which  in  case  of  failure  of  success  here,  they  will 
call  upon  a  higher  power."^^  A  full  explanation  was  given 
in  an  address  of  the  burgesses  to  the  governor,  May  28, 1763, 
and  a  declaration  of  the  loyalty  of  the  colony  was  set  forth 
as  follows:  "Our  dependence  upon  Great  Britain  we  ac- 
knowledge and  glory  in,  as  our  greatest  happiness  and  only 
security,  but  this  is  not  the  dependence  of  a  people  subju- 
gated by  the  arms  of  a  conqueror,  but  of  sons  sent  out  to 
explore  and  settle  a  new  world  for  the  mutual  benefit  of 
themselves  and  their  common  parent."^^  Regarding  the  debt 
incurred  by  the  French  and  Indian  War,  the  burgesses 
stated  in  this  address  that  they  would  "  cheerfully  sustain " 
it -"if  the  merchants  had  not  raised  a  most  unreasonable 
clamor  against  our  paper  bills  of  credit."  Explaining  the 
issue  of  paper  money,  they  said:  "All  our  neighboring  colo- 
nies had  long  before  adopted,  and  most  of  them  repeated,  the 
expedient  of  paper  to  supply  the  want  of  specie,  in  time  of 
peace,  but  that  we  did  not  follow  their  example,  before  the 
last  war,  after  all  our  treasure  was  anticipated,  and  that  even 
then  we  chose  at  first  to  borrow  iio,ooo,  granted  for  his 
majesty's  service,  at  the  high  interest  of  six  per  cent.,  and 

28  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  1761-1765,  p.  171. 

29  Ibid.,  pp.  188-192. 

5 


66  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION    OF  [242 

never  until  after  that  resource  failed,  went  into  a  measure 
so  little  relished,  and  always,  except  in  one  instance  of 
trifling  consequence,  confined  the  amount  of  the  notes  to  the 
money  granted." 

The  merchants  claimed  that  they  were  'being  unjustly  dealt 
with  because  the  instructions  to  the  governor  of  January  3, 
1759,  were  not  being  followed.  To  avoid  any  contention 
which  might  be  later  raised  by  the  merchants,  the  burgesses 
sent  at  that  time  an  address  to  the  king  in  regard  to  the  pro- 
posed issue  of  paper  money.  It  was  not  until  1763  that  the 
merchants  again  complained.  In  answer,  the  burgesses  said: 
"We  concluded  that  as  they  raised  no  objection,  they  were 
satisfied  of  our  intention  to  do  them  justice.  And  we  can 
venture  to  say  that  had  we  known  our  reasons  were  not  sat- 
isfactory, it  would  have  prevented  several  subsequent  emis- 
sions, and  particularly  the  last  which  gave  rise  to  the  present 
complaint."  After  declaring  their  purpose  to  pay  in  sterling 
money  as  far  as  possible,  any  debts  owed  to  the  merchants, 
and  stating  that  the  notes  complained  of  were  issued  for  a 
limited  time  and  were  secured  by  taxes,  the  burgesses  said : 
"  But,  at  the  same  time,  we  considered  how  the  interest  of 
the  British  merchants  might  be  affected  by  this  money,  and 
at  least  as  far  as  was  in  our  power,  if  not  effectually,  secured 
that  from  injury."  Commenting  on  the  action  of  the  mer- 
chants some  years  before  in  regard  to  the  rate  of  exchange 
in  the  payment  of  sterling  debts,  the  burgesses  showed  that 
the  law  of  1748  providing  that  sterling  debts  should  be  dis- 
charged by  allowing  twenty-five  per  cent  addition — the  dif- 
ference at  that  time  between  current  money  and  sterling 
coin — was  objected  to  by  the  merchants.  The  complaint 
of  these  traders  that  they  would  be  the  losers  when  the  ex- 
change should  be  over  that  amount  was  considered  by  the 
burgesses,  and  the  courts  were  empowered  to  settle  at  what 
rate  of  exchange  sterling  debts  should  be  discharged.  The 
merchants  did  not,  however,  consider  this  sufficient  security. 

The  decision  of  the  burgesses  in  the  case,  as  stated  in  the 
above  address,  was  as  follows:  "As  the  present  possessors 


243]  "^^^   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  6/ 

of  the  treasury  notes  have  received  them  under  the  faith  of 
a  law,  making  them  a  legal  tender  in  all  payments,  except 
for  his  majesty's  quit  rents,  to  alter  that  essential  quality  of 
them,  now,  would  be  an  act  of  great  injustice  to  such  pos- 
sessors, and  that  as  the  British  merchants  have  constantly 
received,  and  under  the  present  regulations  of  our  laws,  will 
continue  to  receive,  such  notes  for  their  sterling  debts,  ac- 
cording to  the  real  difference  of  exchange  between  this  col- 
ony and  Great  Britain,  at  the  time  of  payment,  their  property 
is  so  secured  as  to  make  such  alteration  unnecessary  with 
respect  to  them." 

The  merchants  renewed  their  complaint  to  the  Board  of 
Trade  in  1764,  hoping  to  obtain  their  demands  through  that 
body  and  the  governor  without  laying  them  before  Parlia- 
ment.^" Governor  Fauquier,  in  presenting  again  the  claim 
of  the  merchants,  maintained  that  it  was  "  reasonable  on 
the  face  of  it."  The  reply  of  the  burgesses  of  November  9, 
1764,  stated  quite  clearly  their  position,  "As  we  have  not 
sterling  specie  to  pay  here,  which  the  merchants  well  know, 
we  could  secure  the  sterling  creditors  from  injury,  in  the 
receipt  of  the  paper,  by  no  other  means  that  we  can  suggest, 
except  by  directing  that  they  should  be  paid  so  much  paper 
as  would  place  their  money  in  Britain  without  loss."^^  The 
position  of  the  merchants,  supported  by  the  Board  of  Trade 
and  the  governor,  was  considered  all  the  more  unreasonable 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  issue  of  paper  money  was  made 
necessary  by  the  expenses  incurred  by  the  colony  in  support- 
ing the  French  and  Indian  War. 

That  the  merchants  were  influential  in  having  passed  the 
acts  of  Parliament  laying  duties  on  certain  articles  imported 
into  the  colony  may  be  readily  inferred.  A  letter  of  June 
22,  1770,  from  Governor  Botetourt  to  the  secretary  of  state 
regarding  the  association  formed  in  the  colony  for  a  sys- 
tematic boycotting  of  British  goods  stated  that  the  British 
merchants  were  largely  responsible  for  it.^^ 

5"  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  1761-1765,  p.  227. 

31  Ibid.,  p.  249. 

32  Ibid.,  1770-1772,  introduction,  p.  27. 


68  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [244 

Governmental  Expenses. — The  colonies  were  considered 
of  importance  only  so  far  as  they  served  the  interests  of  the 
British  government,  and  especially  the  interests  of  the  Eng- 
lish merchants,  as  was  demonstrated  by  the  frequent  regula- 
tions regarding  trade.  That  the  colonies  gave  Great  Britain 
material  assistance  seems  amply  demonstrated  upon  the  au- 
thority of  one  whose  position  afforded  him  an  opportunity 
to  ascertain  the  actual  returns  from  the  colonies.  A  state- 
ment in  1707  to  the  lords  of  the  treasury  from  William 
Blathwayt,  the  auditor-general  of  the  colonies,  asserted  that 
the  American  colonies  were  the  chief  support  of  Great 
Britain,^  The  colony  of  Virginia  was  but  one  in  the  British 
colonial  system,  and  from  the  British  point  of  view  was  esti- 
mated very  largely  by  the  value  of  its  exports  to  England. 
The  opinion  of  the  British  authorities  of  the  relative  wealth 
and  importance  of  Virginia  is  shown  in  the  apportionment 
of  the  assistance  to  be  given  by  the  colonies  to  New  York. 
The  royal  instructions  of  May  19,  1732,  to  the  governor  of 
that  colony  stated  that  the  assemblies  of  certain  colonies  had 
been  directed  to  appropriate  specified  amounts  toward  the 
erection  of  forts  on  the  New  York  frontier.^  Virginia  was 
assessed  far  more  than  any  other  colony.  It  was  stated  that 
the  contributions  should  be  "  in  proportion  to  the  respective 
abilities  of  each  plantation."  It  was  also  provided  that  in 
case  of  invasion  of  New  York,  the  other  colonies  were  to 
furnish  troops.^  Virginia  was  called  on  to  furnish  forty 
more  men  for  the  defense  of  New  York  than  that  colony 
itself  was  expected  to  supply. 

When  Virginia  became  a  royal  colony  in  1624,  the  British 
government  proposed  to  assume  the  expense  of  the  local  gov- 
ernmental charges,  including  the  governor's  salary  and  the 
cost  of  defense  against  the  Indians,  which  were  to  be  met 

1  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Papers,  1702-1707,  p.  532. 

2  Rhode  Island  and  Providence,  iiso;  Connecticut,  £450;  Penn- 
sylvania, £350;  Maryland,  £650;  Virginia,  £900  (C.  O.  5:  195,  42). 

^Massachusetts  Bay,  350;  New  Hampshire,  40;  Rhode  Island,  48; 
Connecticut,  120;  New  York,  200;  East  New  Jersey,  60;  West  New 
Jersey,  60;  Pennsylvania,  80;  Maryland,  160;  Virginia,  240  (C.  O.  5: 
195,42). 


245]  "T^^   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  69 

with  part  of  the  revenue  on  tobacco.*  Shortly  after  his 
accession,  Charles  I  also  stated  that  the  maintenance  of  all 
public  officials  in  Virginia  should  be  borne  by  the  crown." 
Until  1643  a  part  of  the  governor's  salary  was  paid  either 
directly  or  indirectly  out  of  the  royal  exchequer,  but  from 
that  date  until  about  1660  the  whole  salary  was  paid  by  the 
colonists  directly  by  public  tax.  After  that  it  was  paid  indi- 
rectly out  of  the  duty  on  exported  tobacco.  Thus  the  as- 
sumption by  the  British  government  of  the  salary  of  the 
governor  was  invalid,  except  during  the  brief  period  indi- 
cated. As  each  of  the  officials  of  the  colony  is  studied,  it  is 
observed  that  not  only  the  provincial  appointees,  but  also 
those  holding  royal  commissions  were  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly paid  by  the  colonists. 

The  British  authorities,  notwithstanding  the  declaration 
of  their  intention  to  bear  the  cost  of  defense  against  the 
Indians,  left  this  matter  very  largely  to  the  colonies,  for  it 
was  in  fact  the  established  policy  of  the  British  government 
that  in  times  of  peace  in  Europe  the  defense  of  a  colony 
against  a  local  enemy  should  devolve  primarily  on  the  colony 
itself.     This  policy  was  departed  from  with  reluctance.® 

In  1695  the  British  government,  deciding  to  leave  the  de- 
fense of  the  New  York  frontier  to  the  colonies,  directed  that 
an  appropriation  of  £500  be  made  by  Virginia  for  this  pur- 
pose. In  an  address  to  the  governor  the  burgesses  insisted 
that  in  view  of  the  taxes  and  other  expenses  then  borne  in 
order  to  protect  the  frontier  of  Virginia,  the  colony  should 
not  be  expected  to  aid  New  York.  They  maintained  that 
Virginia  had  never  received  assistance,  and  added:  "to 
which  opinion  they  are  the  more  induced,  by  this  further 
consideration,  that  as  this  country  always  has  in  its  greatest 
necessities,  borne  its  own  charge,  without  any  assistance 
from  other  places,  and  by  means  thereof,  is  reduced  to  a 
lower  ebb  and  degree  of  want,  so  now  it  must  by  the  forces 
and  assistance  lodged  within  itself,  be  its  own  defense  and 

*T.  Rymer,  Foedera,  vol.  xvii,  p.  669;  Beer,  Origins,  p.  318. 
5  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1574-1660,  pp.  73-74. 
^  Beer,  Origins,  p.  319. 


# 

70  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION   OF  [246 

guard."  When  the  importance  of  the  matter  was  strongly 
urged,  the  Assembly  appropriated  £500,  to  be  raised  by  a 
special  duty  on  imported  liquors,  but  requested  that  the  king 
would  not  again  make  such  an  assessment.  Notwithstand- 
ing this  request  the  colony  was  called  on  in  1701  for  an  addi- 
tional appropriation  of  £900  for  the  same  purpose.  When 
the  Assembly  refused  to  grant  it,  the  governor  (Nicholson) 
offered  to  advance  the  money,  with  the  understanding  that 
he  would  be  refunded  out  of  the  quit-rents,  but  it  seems  that 
the  money  was  not  needed.'^ 

In  1698  the  lords  of  the  treasury  directed  the  govern- 
ors of  Virginia,  New  England,  New  York,  Jamaica,  Bar- 
badoes,  and  the  Leeward  Islands  to  give  credit  to  Admiral 
Bembo  and  his  squadron  in  the  West  Indies,  and  to  furnish 
him  with  money  to  the  amount  of  £3000  for  provisions  and 
other  expenses.  Virginia  was  to  furnish  £500  of  this 
amount.^ 

When  military  supplies,  amounting  in  value  to  £3388,  were 
sent  to  Virginia  in  1702,  the  governor  was  instructed  to 
"  forthwith  cause  the  said  sum  "  to  be  paid  out  of  the  quit- 
rents  and  to  be  transmitted  by  bills  of  exchange  to  the  treas- 
urer of  the  ordnance  office.  In  addition  to  thus  refunding 
the  cost  of  these  supplies,  the  members  of  the  militia  to 
whom  any  of  these  supplies  were  issued  were  required  to 
pay  for  them,  and  the  money  arising  from  such  sales,  in 
accordance  with  the  directions  of  the  British  government, 
was  kept  by  the  receiver-general  as  a  royal  reserve  fund  to 
be  used  for  the  service  of  the  colony.^ 

The  colony  not  only  paid  for  its  own  defense,  but  volun- 
teered to  make  an  appropriation  for  an  adjacent  colony 
which  was  being  disturbed  by  Indians,  although  the  financial 
condition  of  Virginia  would  hardly  justify  it.  In  an  address 
to  the  governor  of  December  21,  171 1,  the  House  of  Bur- 

^  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1701,  no.  1040;  Journal  of  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses, 1695-1696,  pp.  16,  35,  37;  1702-1705,  pp.  16,  20. 

s  Plantations  General,  vol.  iv  (2),  146. 

^  Blathwayt's  Journal,  vol.  ii,  p.  116;  Journal  of  the  Council  of 
Virginia,  MS.,  1689-1703,  p.  157. 


247]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  7 1 

gesses,  commenting  on  the  appropriation  for  the  assistance 
of  North  CaroHna,  said :  "  Nothing  less  than  the  deplorable 
state  of  our  distressed  fellow  subjects  of  North  Carolina, 
joined  with  the  just  apprehensions  we  have  of  the  dangers 
hanging  over  our  heads  from  the  common  enemy,  could  ever 
have  prevailed  with  this  house  to  have  made  a  resolve  to 
raise  i20,ooo,  at  a  time  when  our  staple  commodity  will 
hardly  afford  necessaries  for  the  support  of  the  people,  and 
our  present  funds  have  proved  in  great  measure  deficient."^" 
In  171 5,  also,  men  were  sent  from  Virginia  to  aid  South 
Carolina  during  an  Indian  war  in  that  colony.^^ 

In  1732  the  British  government  again  called  upon  the  colo- 
nies to  help  New  York,  and  assessed  Virginia  £900  for  the 
erection  of  forts  on  the  New  York  frontier,  and  requested 
her,  in  case  of  invasion,  to  furnish  two  hundred  and  forty 
men.^^  Virginia  had  supported  New  York  on  a  previous 
occasion,  but  did  not  at  this  time  comply  with  the  royal 
instructions. 

In  1740  the  colonies  were  called  upon  to  furnish  soldiers 
to  cooperate  with  the  regular  British  troops  in  an  offensive 
war  against  the  Spaniards  in  the  West  Indies.  Governor 
Gooch  and  four  hundred  men  went  from  Virginia  to  join 
the  regulars  at  Jamaica,  and  proceeded  thence  to  attack  Car- 
thagena,  on  the  northern  coast  of  South  America.  The  As- 
sembly, "  desirous  to  give  the  utmost  testimony  of  their 
loyalty  and  affection  to  his  majesty's  person  and  govern- 
ment," appropriated  £5000  for  the  expedition,  and  as  this 
amount  exceeded  the  funds  in  the  treasury,  a  large  part  of 
it  was  loaned  by  individuals.  In  addition  to  this  appropria- 
tion, the  Assembly  provided  for  £500  to  be  raised  by  a  special 
duty  on  imported  slaves,  which  was  to  be  used  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  soldiers  while  waiting  to  embark,  for  those  who 
might  be  wounded  in  the  campaign,  and  for  the  families  of 
those  who  might  be  killed.  In  the  act  providing  for  this 
appropriation  it  was  stated  that  the  colony  was  thus  "to 

1°  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  1710-1712,  p.  344. 

11  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1705-1721,  p.  241. 

12  C.  O.  5 :  19s,  42. 


72  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [248 

provide  for  and  defray  the  expense  of  victualling  and  trans- 
porting the  said  soldiers,  and  all  other  incident  charges  at- 
tending the  enlisting  of  them,  (except  their  pay,  clothes, 
arms  and  ammunition),  till  their  arrival  at  the  general  ren- 
dezvous in  the  West  Indies."  The  British  government  could 
not,  of  course,  expect  Virginia  to  do  more  than  furnish  these 
soldiers  and  pay  the  expense  of  transporting  them  to  Ja- 
maica. As  the  results  of  the  expedition,  even  though  suc- 
cessful, could  have  only  an  indirect  effect  on  Virginia,  it 
would  have  been  unjust  to  require  the  colony  to  bear  the 
expense  after  the  soldiers  reached  Jamaica.  This  was  an 
unusual  campaign  in  that  the  provincial  troops  were  not  only 
to  leave  their  own  colony,  but  were  also  to  leave  the  main- 
land of  America  in  the  interest  of  Great  Britain,  It  was 
therefore  to  be  expected  that  the  British  government  would 
depart  from  its  policy  in  regard  to  leaving  the  matter  of 
local  defense  to  the  colonies  themselves,  and  assume  the  ex- 
pense of  the  campaign  after  the  troops  reached  Jamaica. 

Though  the  pay  of  the  colonial  troops  and  their  clothes, 
arms,  and  ammunition  were  to  be  furnished  by  the  British 
government,  it  was  fully  two  months  after  the  arrival  at 
Jamaica  before  any  effort  was  made  to  provide  for  them. 
While  waiting  for  Lord  Cathcart,  who  was  expected  to  bring 
funds  from  England,  a  loan  of  £2000  was  negotiated  with 
merchants  in  Jamaica,  which,  however,  was  only  sufficient 
for  the  officers.^'  Immediately  after  this  expedition,  upon 
request  from  Georgia  for  assistance  against  the  Spaniards, 
who  were  threatening  that  colony,  Virginia  sent  troops 
there,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  there  were  apprehensions  of  a 
Spanish  invasion  of  Virginia,  of  an  Indian  attack,  and  also 
of  slave  insurrections  within  the  colony.^* 

In  1745  Virginia  cooperated  with  England  in  her  prepa- 
ration for  the  invasion  of  Canada  by  responding  to  the  re- 
quest of  Governor  Shirley,  and  by  sending  £1273.  lis.  2d.  to 

i^Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Books  and  Papers,  1742-1745,  pp.  19,  321;  C. 
O.  5:  41,  25,  106-108,  110-112;  Hening,  vol.  v,  pp.  92,  121. 

^*  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  xvii,  p.  43. 


249]  "^^^   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  73 

Cape  Breton  for  provisions  for  the  garrison."  When  the 
invasion  was  begun  the  next  year,  the  British  government 
requested  the  American  colonies  to  furnish  five  thousand 
men.^*  Virginia  appropriated  £4000  toward  raising  her 
quota  of  troops,  and  £600  for  provisions  and  quarters  for 
British  soldiers  bound  for  Canada,  but  compelled  to  stop  in 
Virginia  on  account  of  storms.  This  was  a  war  begun  by 
the  British  government  and  not  by  the  colonists,  and  was  a 
war  of  conquest  and  not  one  primarily  of  self-defense.  It 
was  a  struggle  between  England  and  France,  therefore  the 
British  authorities  did  not  expect  the  colonists  to  bear  all 
of  the  expense.  The  provincial  troops  were  to  be  paid  from 
the  British  treasury  and  their  arms  and  clothes  furnished  to 
them.  It  was  necessary,  however,  for  the  treasurer  of  Vir- 
ginia to  borrow  a  sum  not  exceeding  £4000  in  order  to  put 
the  troops  raised  by  the  colony  in  readiness,  and  the  arms 
kept  in  the  public  magazine  were  used  in  order  to  hasten 
the  mobilization  of  troops  at  Albany,^'^  Governor  Gooch  of 
Virginia  was  appointed  brigadier-general  in  command  of  the 
troops  to  be  raised  by  Virginia,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania, 
New  Jersey,  and  New  York,  but  he  declined  to  serve.^^ 

In  1757  South  Carolina  was  again  at  war  with  the  Indians, 
and  four  companies  were  sent  from  Virginia  in  response  to 
her  call  for  help.^^  In  these  several  instances  Virginia  ren- 
dered assistance  to  the  adjacent  colonies  with  no  expectation 
of  reimbursement  by  the  home  government. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  the  Brit- 
ish government  evidently  intended  to  continue  the  policy  of 
leaving  the  colonies  to  defend  themselves.  The  Albany  Con- 
gress (1754)  was  in  full  accord  with  that  policy,  as  it  was 
an  effort  to  form  a  union  of  the  colonies  in  order  to  provide 
a  more  adequate  system  of  defense  at  the  expense  of  the 
colonies  and  not  of  the  British  exchequer.     When  the  Brit- 

15  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  vol.  liv,  p.  25. 

16  C.  O.  5 :  45,  215,  242. 

1^  C.  O.  5:  45,  2;  Hening,  vol.  v,  p.  401 ;  Journal  of  the  House  of 
Burgesses,  1742-1747,  pp.  221,  231;  1748-1749,  pp.  265,  268. 
18  C.  O.  5  :  45,  239-242. 
18  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  1756-1758,  p.  427. 


74  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION   OF  [25O 

ish  government  sent  £20,000  to  Governor  Dinwiddie  for  the 
defense  of  Virginia  in  1754,  it  was  not  to  be  considered  as 
an  indication  of  a  decided  change  in  that  policy.  The  colony 
did  not  depend  solely  upon  this  royal  appropriation,  for  the 
Assembly  provided  by  special  taxation  for  the  war.^"  This 
sum  was  in  fact  a  loan,  and  was  to  be  refunded,  as  is  shown 
by  a  letter  of  July  3,  1754,  from  the  secretary  of  state  to 

20  The  appropriations  made  by  the  Assembly  from  1754  to  1759 

and  the  methods  of  taxation  were  as  follows : — 

February,  1754.  ^10,000  appropriated.  This  amount  was  to  be  bor- 
rowed by  the  treasurer  at  6  per  cent,  and 
the  following  taxes  were  imposed  for  six 
years :  an  additional  duty  of  5  per  cent  on 
slaves  imported,  20s.  on  every  carriage, 
20s.  on  every  license  for  an  ordinary,  from 
IS.  3d.  to  2s.  6d.  on  processes  at  law. 

October,  1754.  £20,000  appropriated.  A  tax  of  5s.  was  imposed 
for  one  year  (October,  1754-October, 
1755)  on  every  tithable.  Under  the  same 
appropriation  there  was  also  imposed  (May, 
1755)  an  additional  duty  of  10  per  cent 
on  slaves  imported,  over  and  above  the 
usual  duty  and  the  special  duty  imposed 
in  1754,  a  tax  of  2s.  on  every  slave  already 
in  the  colony,  and  a  tax  of  is.  3d.  on  every 
one  hundred  acres  of  land,  for  one  year. 

May,  1755.    £  6,000  appropriated.    To  be  raised  by  a  lottery. 

August,  1755.  £40,000  appropriated.  A  tax  of  is.  on  every  titha- 
able  and  is.  3d.  on  every  one  hundred  acres 
of  land,  for  three  years  (1757-1760). 

March,  1756.  £25,000  appropriated.  A  tax  of  is.  on  every  titha- 
ble, and  IS.  on  every  one  hundred  acres  of 
land,  for  three  years  (1758-1760). 

March,  1758.  Amount  not  specified,  for  increasing  mili- 

tary force  of  2000  men.  A  tax  of  is.  on 
every  tithable,  and  is.  on  every  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  for  four  years  (1761- 
1764). 

November,  1759.  £10,000  appropriated.  A  tax  of  2s.  per  hogshead  on 
tobacco,  to  be  paid  by  the  owner  to  the 
inspector  at  the  warehouse.  This  was  in 
addition  to  the  2s.  per  hogshead  duty  paid 
to  the  royal  collector  when  tobacco  was 
exported.  This  additional  tax  was  to  be 
paid  for  two  years  (October,  1767-October, 
1769). 
While  waiting  for  the  collection  of  these  special  war  taxes,  the 

treasurer  borrowed  money,  usually  at  six  per  cent,  or  issued  "  treas- 
ury notes,"  which  were  legal  tender  (Hening,  vol.  vi,  pp.  417, 435,  453. 

461,  521;  vol.  vii,  pp.  9,  163,  331). 


251]  THE   COLONY   OF  VIRGINIA  75 

Dinwiddie :  "  Whereas  the  duty  of  two  shillings  per  hogshead 
upon  tobacco,  is  applicable  to  the  contingent  expenses  of  our 
government  there,  our  will  and  pleasure  is,  and  we  do  hereby 
direct,  authorize,  and  command  you,  to  issue  your  warrant, 
from  time  to  time,  for  paying  over  the  balance  of  the  money 
in  the  receiver's  hands  of  the  said  duty,  and  such  other  sums, 
as  shall  hereafter  appear  to  be  the  balance  in  his  hands 
thereof,  as  far  as  the  sum  will  go,  unto  our  right  trusty  and 
well  beloved  William  Pitt,  paymaster  general  of  our  forces, 
to  re-imburse  and  make  good  the  said  sums  of  iio,ooo  so 
sent  over  in  specie,  and  i  10,000,  so  to  be  advanced  on  the 
credit  of  your  bills. "^*  Thus  the  colony,  although  in  debt,  was 
required  to  reimburse  the  British  exchequer.  In  the  address 
of  the  Council  of  Virginia  to  the  king  on  November  16, 1754, 
which  thanked  him  for  the  above  appropriation,  it  was  stated 
that  "  the  extraordinary  supplies  necessarily  raised  in  the  late 
war,  and  upon  this  occasion,  have  involved  us  in  a  debt, 
which  all  our  funds,  at  present,  are  not  able  to  satisfy."^^ 

Dinwiddie  complained  to  the  secretary  of  state  of  the 
inadequacy  of  the  revenue  from  the  duty  on  tobacco  of  two 
shillings  per  hogshead,  and  begged  that  the  royal  order  to 
reimburse  the  British  exchequer  for  the  £20,000  loaned  to 
the  colony  might  be  temporarily  suspended,  until  the  expe- 
dition against  the  French  and  Indians  could  be  completed 
and  the  treasury  replenished."^  In  a  letter  of  June  6,  1755, 
from  Dinwiddie  to  the  Board  of  Trade  it  is  shown,  however, 
that  some  of  this  revenue  was  sent  to  England :  "  Agreeable 
and  in  obedience  to  his  majesty's  commands,  I  have  trans- 
mitted my  warrant  to  the  paymaster  general,  for  £2,000,  pay- 
able by  Mr.  John  Hanbury,  from  the  revenue  of  two  shil- 
lings per  hogshead  on  tobacco  in  this  colony,  that  is  the  only 
one,  I  have  recourse  to  for  payment  of  any  emergencies  of 
government.  I,  therefore,  have  left  the  small  sum  of  ijdy, 
15s.,  6d.  in  the  receiver  general's  hand."^* 

21c.  O.  5:  211,  yT,  91. 

22c.  O.. 5:. 15,  21. 

23  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  i,  p.  353. 

2*C.  O.  s:  IS,  585. 


y6  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION   OF  [252 

In  1755,  in  addition  to  Braddock's  expedition,  three  other 
military  enterprises  were  undertaken, — the  campaign  in  Nova 
Scotia,  the  expedition  against  Niagara,  and  that  against 
Crown  Point,  the  last  being  purely  a  colonial  undertaking. 
The  Board  of  Trade  estimated  the  expenses  of  the  colonies 
in  these  expeditions  at  £170,100,  and  recommended  that 
Parliament  grant  them  £120,000  "as  an  encouragement  to 
exert  themselves  for  the  future  in  their  mutual  and  com- 
mon defense."^'  Parliament,  however,  granted  £115,000  to 
the  northern  colonies,  which  practically  covered  their  ex- 
penses, but  nothing  to  the  southern  colonies  until  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina  protested  against  the  discrimination. 
The  next  year  (1757)  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  South 
Carolina  received  £50,000,  of  which  amount  Virginia  re- 
ceived £32,269.^"  James  Abercromby,  solicitor  of  Virginia 
affairs,  stated  that  that  colony  alone  between  1753  and  1756 
spent  £100,000  sterling,  although  the  Board  of  Trade  estimated 
that  only  £22,000  was  appropriated  by  Virginia  for  the  above 
expeditions.^'^  After  the  appropriations  made  in  the  colonies 
in  1758,  Parliament  voted  the  next  year  £200,000  to  reim- 
burse them,  of  which  amount  Virginia  received  £20,546.^^ 
Similar  appropriations  were  made  in  subsequent  years 
throughout  the  entire  war.^"  By  these  appropriations  the 
British  government  was  partially  reimbursing  the  colonies 
for  their  help  in  meeting  an  emergency  which,  without  the 
assistance  of  provincial  troops,  could  not  have  been  so  suc- 
cessfully met.  The  British  authorities  were  anxious  to  en- 
courage the  raising  of  colonial  troops,  as  this  plan  rendered 
it  less  necessary  to  raise  troops  in  England,  and  also  saved 

25  New  York,  £18,900;  New  Jersey,  £6900;  New  Hampshire,  £9000; 
Massachusetts,  £60,000;  Connecticut,  £29,000;  Rhode  Island,  £8000; 
Maryland,  £4500;  Pennsylvania,  £3800;  North  Carolina,  £8000;  Vir- 
ginia, £22,000  (Beer,  British  Colonial  Policy,  p.  53). 

2^29  George  II,  c.  29;  30  George  II,  c.  26;  Hening,  vol.  vii,  p. 
372;  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  1758-1761,  p.  184. 

27  Beer,  British  Colonial  Policy,  p.  53. 

28  Hening,  vol.  vii,  p.  372;  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses, 
175S-1761,  pp.  172,  184. 

29  1759,  £200,000;  1760,  £200,000;  1761,  £200,000;  1762,  £133,333; 
1763,  £133,333  (32  George  II,  c.  36;  33  George  II,  c.  18;  i  George 
III,  c.  19;  2  George  III,  c.  34;  3  George  III,  c.  17). 


253]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  77 

the  heavy  cost  of  transporting  them,  as  well  as  the  regulars, 
from  England. 

Before  the  plan  to  reimburse  the  colonies  was  adopted,  it 
was  difficult  to  secure  sufficient  cooperation  from  all  of  them. 
It  was  thought  by  some  that  the  colonies  should  be  forced  to 
cooperate  with  each  other  and  to  assume  a  proportionate 
share  of  the  expense  of  the  necessary  military  establishment. 
Dinwiddle  wrote  to  the  secretary  of  state  on  February  12, 
1755,  and  suggested  that  if  they  would  not  cooperate,  Par- 
liament might  lay  a  special  tax  on  them  for  this  purpose.'" 
As  soon,  however,  as  they  were  assured  of  reimbursement, 
they  were  generally  more  favorable  to  the  war.  Massachu- 
setts, Connecticut,  and  New  York,  according  to  Beer,  showed 
throughout  the  war  more  public  spirit  than  any  other  colo- 
nies.^^  The  share  of  the  expense  of  the  war  borne  by  Vir- 
ginia was  i385,3i9,  which  was  the  next  largest  debt  to  that 
of  Massachusetts, — i8i8,ooo.'^  It  would  seem,  therefore, 
that  Virginia,  while  not  appropriating  as  much  as  Massachu- 
setts, showed  more  public  spirit  in  this  respect  than  Con- 
necticut or  New  York.  Virginia  should  not  be  included 
with  the  other  southern  colonies  in  the  rebuke  by  Pitt  for 
their  "  want  of  zeal."  Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst,  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  army,  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Fauquier  of  Vir- 
ginia, sent  from  New  York  under  date  of  September  24, 
1762,  commended  the  colony  for  promptness  in  raising  the 
troops  requested,  and  said  that  it  deserved  special  thanks 
from  the  king.  He  stated  that  "  the  colony  of  Virginia 
should  be  the  first  that  claims  that  high  honor.  The  ready 
compliance  of  your  Assembly  in  making  the  necessary  pro- 
vision for  both  the  requisitions  of  his  majesty  and  the  zeal 
and  spirit  particularly  exerted  in  completing  the  quotas  of 
men  demanded  for  the  regular  corps,  are  strong  proofs  of 
the  loyalty  of  the  colony  in  general,  and  of  the  great  regard 
they  pay  to  his  majesty's  commands."^^ 

30  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  i,  pp.  493,  496. 

31  British  Colonial  Policy,  p.  58. 

32  Plantations  General,  vol.  xxii,  18. 

33  C.  O.  5 :  62,  575. 


78  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION   OF  [254 

Although  Parliament  made  the  appropriations  mentioned, 
they  were  inadequate  to  reimburse  the  colonies  fully.  The 
total  expense  of  Massachusetts  and  Virginia  was  £1,203,- 
319,  and  the  total  amount  appropriated  by  Parliament  was 
£1,036,666  for  all  the  colonies.  The  colonies  were  refunded 
about  forty  per  cent,  or  two  fifths,  of  their  expenditures 
for  this  war.^* 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  mention  briefly  the 
ordinary  expenses  of  the  colony.  While  the  policy  of  Great 
Britain  was  to  throw  upon  the  colonies  the  responsibility  of 
meeting  their  own  expenses,  in  the  case  of  Virginia  it 
became  necessary,  on  a  few  occasions,  to  request  an  appro- 
priation from-  the  quit-rents  for  the  usual  governmental 
charges.  In  1699,  for  example,  Virginia  was  not  self-sup- 
porting without  the  use  of  the  royal  quit-rents,  as  the  other 
revenues  were  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  ordinary  expenses.^^ 
A  royal  order  was  issued  to  the  governor  (Nicholson) 
authorizing  him  to  appropriate  £2955.  9s.  S^^d.  of  the  quit- 
rents  for  this  purpose.^^  By  1700,  however,  Nicholson  had 
succeeded  in  bringing  the  colony  out  of  debt,  and  was 
praised  by  the  Board  of  Trade  for  this  service.^^  By  the 
end  of  the  year  1702  he  reported  i  10,000  to  the  credit  of  the 
colony,  and  in  1705  the  deposits  amounted  to  £7698.  But 
by  1 71 5  the  colony  was  not  self-supporting  without  using 
the  quit-rents,  permission  for  which  was  granted  by  the 
king  upon  a  petition  of  the  Assembly  as  well  as  a  request 
from  the  governor.^^  As  the  usual  revenue  of  about  £4000 
was  thus  again  insufficient  for  the  salaries  of  the  officers  of 
the  colony,  which  aggregated  at  that  time  £ZZ77  ^  year, 
besides  the  other  ordinary  and  special  expenses,  £300  was 
appropriated  out  of  the  quit-rents.^^ 

In   1717  Governor  Spotswood  informed  the   Board  of 

34  Beer,  British  Colonial  Policy,  p.  57. 

35  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1696-1697,  p.  465,  no.  967. 

s^Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1699,  p.  309;  Executive  Papers,  MS.,  1693-1699. 
3^  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  MS.,  1698-1703,  p.  113. 
3^  Cal.  St.  P.  Treas.  Papers,  170^1714,  p.  573;  1714-1719,  p.  159. 
2^  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  iii,  p.  121 ; 
Sainsbury,  vol.  iii,  p.  461. 


255]  '^^^   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  79 

Trade  that  the  revenue  from  the  duty  on  tobacco  of  two 
shillings  per  hogshead  lacked  £1973.  los.  46..  of  being  enough 
to  finish  paying  the  salaries  and  the  usual  expenses  for  the 
preceding  year,  which  amounted  to  ^3500,  and  he  requested 
that  the  necessary  warrant  be  issued  authorizing  him  to 
make  up  the  deficit  out  of  the  quit-rents.  These  were  held 
by  the  receiver-general,  and  amounted  to  £3766.  is.  4d.*° 
According  to  a  statement  in  the  Calendar  of  Treasury  Books 
and  Papers,*^  Virginia  and  New  York  were  the  "only 
colonies  in  which  the  quit  rents  are  accounted  for  to  the 
crown."  Since  this  was  the  case,  and  also  since  the  quit- 
rents  were  paid  by  the  colonists,  it  was  very  reasonable  that 
they  should  expect  the  British  authorities  to  consent  to  the 
use  of  this  revenue  for  the  regular  expenses  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  colony.  By  about  1760  the  annual  expenses  of 
the  colony  were  estimated  by  the  British  government  at 
iSooo.  The  two  shillings  per  hogshead  revenue  amounted 
at  this  time  to  £7000.*^ 

In  1756  Governor  Dinwiddie  stated  in  regard  to  the  re- 
sources of  Virginia  and  the  revenues  actually  collected  that 
"this  Dominion  pays  more  to  the  crown  than  all  the  others. "^^ 
The  surveyor-general  of  the  customs  for  the  southern  dis- 
trict of  America  in  his  report  in  1743  to  the  Duke  of  New- 
castle, one  of  the  principal  secretaries  of  state,  said  that  the 
value  of  goods  shipped  annually  from  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  to  Virginia  was  ii8o,ooo,  and  that  the  value  of  the 
exports  from  Virginia  (including  wheat,  Indian  corn,  pork, 
skins,  furs,  lumber,  iron,  and  thirty-five  thousand  hogsheads 
of  tobacco)  was  £380,000  a  year, — a.  total  import  and  export 
trade  of  £560,000.*^  The  trade  of  the  colony,  which  was 
largely  with  Great  Britain,  was  estimated  about  1740  by 
Governor  Gooch  at  £434,000  annually,  £300,000  of  which 
was  in  tobacco.*^     Governor  Howard  stated  to  the  lords  of 

^°  Spotswood  Letters,  vol.  ii,  p.  247. 
41 1731-1734,  no.  201. 

42  C.  O.  5  :  216,  8,  121. 

43  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  ii,  p.  437. 

44  C.  O.  5  :  5,  f.  200-203. 

45  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  iii,  p.  123. 


80  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [256 

trade  in  1683  that  the  revenues  from  Virginia  exceeded 
those  of  all  the  other  colonies  combined.*^  This  prosperous 
condition  of  the  colony  existed  earlier  also,  for  Giles  Bland, 
collector  of  the  royal  revenues  in  Virginia,  writing  in  1676 
to  Sir  Joseph  Williamson,  referred  to  the  "  yearly  revenue 
of  more  than  i  100,000,  which  Virginia  affords  to  his 
majesty."*^  Sir  John  Knight,  writing  to  the  Earl  of  Shafts- 
bury  in  October,  1673,  stated  that  the  British  customs  duties 
paid  by  Virginia  on  tobacco  alone  amounted  to  £150,000  a 
year.*^  Sir  Henry  Chicheley,  in  presenting  in  1673  a  peti- 
tion from  the  governor  and  the  Assembly  of  Virginia  to  the 
king  for  military  supplies,  stated  that  the  claim  of  the  colony 
was  based  on  the  fact  that  Virginia  furnished  a  larger 
annual  revenue  to  the  crown  by  customs  than  any  other 
plantation  in  the  British  dominions.*^ 

Although  the  colony  did  not  always  administer  its  gov- 
ernment without  incurring  expenses  which  could  be  met  only 
by  the  use  of  the  quit-rents,  yet  the  prosperity  of  the  colony 
and  its  importance  to  Great  Britain  were  unquestioned,  and 
the  royal  customs  were  collected  fairly  regularly,  and  the 
quit-rents  sent  to  the  royal  exchequer.  When  the  British 
government  made  an  appropriation  to  relieve  the  embarrass- 
ment of  the  colony,  it  was  usually  out  of  the  quit-rents, 
which  had  been  collected  but  not  forwarded  to  England. 
These  revenues,  and  also  the  revenue  from  the  duty  of  two 
shillings  per  hogshead  on  exported  tobacco,  which  was  used 
for  paying  the  salaries  of  the  officials,  were  of  course  raised 
by  the  colonists.  Although  these  were  considered  to  belong 
to  the  king,  the  colonists  themselves  were,  after  all,  main- 
taining the  government  of  the  colony.  Regarding  the  ade- 
quacy of  these  revenues,  the  Board  of  Trade  stated  in  its 
report  on  Virginia  in  1767  that  the  two  shillings  per  hogs- 
head and  the  quit-rents  "  form  an  ample  and  sufficient  fund 
for  the  payment  of  the  civil  establishments  of  this  colony."^" 

46  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1681-1685,  no.  1273. 

4^Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  167S-1676,  no.  906;  1677-1680,  no.  304. 

48  Cal.  St.  P.  Col.  1669-1674,  no.  1159. 

49  Ibid.,  no.  1 1 18. 

50  C.  O.  S :  (>1,  585. 


257]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  8 1 

Efficiency  of  the  Financial  System. — Notwithstanding  the 
frequent  evasion  of  the  revenue  duties,  there  was,  as  has 
been  shown,  a  large  sum  paid  during  the  whole  colonial 
period  on  imports  and  exports  and  in  quit-rents.  Much  of 
this  was  sent  to  the  British  exchequer,  and,  therefore,  was 
not  used  either  directly  or  indirectly  in  the  interest  of  the 
colony.  The  quit-rents  were  usually  sent  to  England,  re- 
gardless of  the  financial  condition  of  the  colony.  In  some 
cases,  however,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  a  portion  of  this 
royal  revenue  was  permitted  to  be  retained  for  the  expenses 
of  the  colony.  Had  the  British  government  paid  the  gov- 
ernor's salary,  maintained  the  military  system,  and  allowed 
all  of  the  revenues  raised  in  the  colony  to  be  kept  for  the 
use  of  the  colony,  there  would  have  been,  of  course,  no 
occasion  for  assistance.  The  colony  was  more  than  self- 
supporting,  for  with  the  few  exceptions  noted,  the  expenses 
were  met,  the  quit-rents  were  forwarded  to  England,  and 
when  aid  was  necessary  funds  were  appropriated  by  royal 
permission  from  the  quit- rents,  which  were  raised  by  the 
colonists  themselves.  The  colonists  not  only  maintained  the 
royal  government  in  Virginia,  but  also  furnished  troops  and 
money  to  conserve  British  interests  in  the  other  colonies. 
These  appropriations  were,  moreover,  not  confined  to  the 
colonies  along  the  Atlantic  Coast,  but  were  made  for  ex- 
peditions against  Canada  and  the  northern  coast  of  South 
America. 

There  was,  in  addition  to  the  revenues  which  were  used 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  royal  government,  a  system  of 
provincial  revenues  raised  for  local  purposes,  such,  for 
example,  as  the  public,  county,  and  parish  levies,  and  the 
duties  on  liquors,  slaves,  skins,  and  furs.  These  provincial 
revenues  seem  usually  to  have  been  adequate  to  meet  the 
ordinary  expenses  for  which  they  were  raised.  In  the  case 
of  so  great  an  emergency  as  the  French  and  Indian  War, 
the  public  levy  was  much  increased  by  the  extraordinary 
demands  of  the  situation.  It  was  not  only  self-protection, 
but  also  the  conservation  of  British  interests  that  influenced 
6 


82  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION    OF  [258 

the  Assembly  to  increase  the  appropriations  from  these 
revenues  during  that  war. 

In  the  study  of  the  actual  administration  much  attention 
has  been  devoted  to  the  officials  concerned  with  collecting 
and  expending  the  revenues.  There  were  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  the  revenue  system  was  well  established,  about 
twenty  royal  officials  concerned  with  the  royal  revenues, 
which  were  either  used  in  the  colony  or  sent  to  England, 
and,  including  the  inspectors  of  tobacco  and  the  sheriffs, 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  provincial  officials,  who  were 
concerned  with  the  revenues  used  for  the  support  of  the 
government  and  for  purely  local  purposes.  The  classifica- 
tion of  the  revenue  officials  into  royal  and  provincial  cannot 
be  strictly  followed,  as  there  was  some  duplication  of  office 
which  makes  such  a  classification  unsatisfactory  without 
detailed  explanation.  In  the  case  of  the  sheriff's,  for 
example,  both  royal  and  provincial  functions  were  per- 
formed. The  sheriffs  were  appointed  and  commissioned 
by  the  governor  largely  for  the  performance  of  duties  re- 
lated to  the  judiciary;  at  the  same  time,  they  were,  to  some 
extent,  royal  revenue  officers,  for  they  collected  the  quit- 
rents,  which  were  the  one  source  of  revenue  above  all  others 
that  was  regarded  as  royal.  Generally  speaking,  however, 
the  total  number  of  royal,  as  compared  with  provincial,  offi- 
cials as  given  above  may  be  accepted  as  approximately 
correct  for  the  eighteenth  century.  The  royal  officials  were 
appointees  of  the  British  government,  and  held  commissions 
from  the  commissioners  of  the  customs  or  some  other 
British  official,  while  the  provincial  appointees  were  com- 
missioned by  the  governor  or,  as  in  the  case  of  the  treasurer, 
elected  by  the  House  of  Burgesses.  The  appointees  of  the 
governor  were,  strictly  speaking,  semi-royal  officials,  since 
the  governor  himself  held  a  royal  commission,  but  they  were 
usually  considered  provincial. 

It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  which  officials  were  more  faith- 
ful in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  but  the  evidence  seems  to 
be  in  favor  of  the  provincial  officers.     There  were  frauds  in 


2  59]  "^^E   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  83 

the  revenues  throughout  the  colonial  period,  and,  no  doubt, 
there  were  evasions  of  the  provincial  revenues,  but  the  ir- 
regularities in  the  quit-rents  and  the  royal  customs,  both  as 
to  payment  and  to  collection,  were  often  complained  of,  not 
only  in  the  colony,  but  also  by  the  British  government.  In 
certain  cases  the  officials  were  wholly  responsible,  and  were 
themselves  guilty  of  fraudulent  practices,  while  in  others 
the  system  of  exchange  and  credit  in  trade  made  it  possible 
for  the  planters  to  evade  the  most  vigilant  revenue  officer. 

Notwithstanding  the  heavy  demands  made  upon  the  reve- 
nues and  the  frequent  frauds  and  evasions  connected  there- 
with, the  financial  system  was,  as  has  been  shown,  adequate 
for  meeting  the  expenses  of  the  administration  of  the  col- 
ony, and  also  for  conserving,  to  some  extent,  the  interests  of 
Great  Britain  beyond  the  limits  of  the  colony.  The  contro- 
versy between  the  colonists  and  the  British  government 
which  culminated  in  revolution  was  the  result  of  a  persistent 
interference  with  the  financial  and  economic  afifairs  of  the 
colony  which  was  considered  oppressive  and  unjust. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

MANUSCRIPT  SOURCES 

1.  Blathwayt,  William.    Journal,   1680-1718.    3  vols.    Division  of 

Manuscripts,  Library  of  Congress.  Transcript  of  original  in 
British  Public  Record  Office. 

As  William  Blathwayt  was  auditor-general  of  the  colonies 
and  audited  the  colonial  revenue  accounts,  his  journal  is  an 
original  source  of  the  first  importance. 

2.  Blathwayt,  William.  Virginia  Papers,  1675-1717.  MS.  Division  of 

Manuscripts,  Library  of  Congress.    Accession  1391. 
Miscellaneous  collection  of  source  material  of  much  value. 

3.  British  Museum,  Additional  Manuscripts,  nos.  8831-8833,  10119, 

10453,  17476,  17583,  22129,  24322,  Z02>72,  22731,  32737,  33054, 
35870,  35872-35874,  36125-36134,  36216-36220.  Division  of  Manu- 
scripts, Library  of  Congress.  Transcripts  of  originals  in  Brit- 
ish Museum. 

Miscellaneous  collection,  containing  opinions  of  Privy  Coun- 
cil relating  to  the  customs,  list  of  customs  officials  for  salaries, 
warrants  to  the  attorney-  and  solicitor-general  for  patents  for 
public  officials,  and  cases  appealed  from  the  colonies  to  the 
Privy  Council. 

4.  British  Museum,  King's  Manuscripts,  nos.  205,  206.    Division  of 

Manuscripts,  Library  of  Congress.  Transcripts  of  originals 
in  British  Museum. 

"  Report  on  the  State  of  the  American  Colonies,"  copies  of 
letters  from  governors  and  others  in  America,  "  manufactures, 
mode  of  granting  land,  fees  of  office,  etc.,  in  America." 

5.  Colonial  Office  Papers,  Class  5,  vols.  1-3,  5-7,  11-20,  40-43,  45, 

47-49,  52,  54-65,  69-77,  114,  I33-I35,  138,  I45-I47,  I54,  i59-l6i, 
^^7,  175,  188-206,  210-214,  216,  220,  223-225,  227,  241-243,  246- 
248,  250,  255,  256,  284,  1344,  1355,  1358,  1361,  1367,  1375.  Divi- 
sion of  Manuscripts,  Library  of  Congress.  Transcripts  of 
originals  in  British  Public  Record  Office. 

Miscellaneous  collection  of  source  material  of  much  value 
for  the  years  from  1670  to  1776.  Action  of  the  Privy  Council, 
reports  of  the  attorney-  and  solicitor-general  on  colonial  af- 
fairs, treasury  and  custom-house  papers,  commissions,  instruc- 
tions, additional  instructions  and  circular  letters  to  governors, 
letters  from  governors  to  the  home  government,  trade,  Indian, 
and  military  affairs  and  private  letters. 

6.  Executive  Papers,   1652-1777.    Unbound   MSS.    Virginia   State 

Library. 

Miscellaneous  collection,  containing  some  documents  of 
much  importance. 

7.  Governors'   Commissions  and  Instructions.    See  list  at  end  of 

bibliography. 

8.  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,   1692-1852.    65  vols.    MS. 

Virginia  State  Library. 

84 


26l] 


THE    COLONY   OF   VIRGINIA  85 


a.  Minute  Books  of  the  Council  of  Virginia,  1740-1861.  23 
vols.  MS.  Virginia  State  Library.  1740-1767,  in  Journal  of 
the  Council;  1767-1861,  separate  manuscripts. 

b.  Miscellaneous  Council  Papers,  1698-1807.  6  vols.  MS.  Vir- 
ginia State  Library. 

c.  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia  in  Executive  Session, 
1737-1763.  1  vol.  Transcript  by  W.  G.  Stanard.  Virginia  His- 
torical Society. 

d.  Journal  of  the  Council  of  Virginia  in  Legislative  Session, 
1685-1767.  3  vols.  Transcript  by  W.  G.  Stanard.  Virginia  His- 
torical Society. 

The  proceedings  of  this  powerful  and  influential  body  fur- 
nish source  material  of  the  first  importance. 
9.  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  i67S-i775-    83  vols.    Pennsyl- 
vania  Historical   Society.    Transcript  of  original   in   British 
Public  Record  Office. 

The  Board  of  Trade  was  a  clearing-house  for  colonial  mat- 
ters. All  correspondence  to  and  from  the  colonies,  the  royal 
instructions  to  the  governors,  and,  in  fact,  all  colonial  business 
passed  through  this  board.  The  proceedings  of  so  important 
a  body  are  a  valuable  source  of  information. 

10.  Board  of  Trade  Papers,  Plantations  General,  1689-1780.    28  vols. 

Pennsylvania   Historical    Society.    Transcript   of   original   in 
British  Public  Record  Office. 

An  invaluable  collection  of  papers  showing  the  variety  of 
matters  to  which  attention  was  given  by  the  Board  of  Trade. 

11.  Regulations  of  the  Colonial  Post  Office.    MS.    Virginia  Histor- 

ical Society. 
First-hand  information  on  the  postal  system. 

12.  Sainsbury  Papers  1606-1740.    20  vols.     Virginia  State  Library. 

Transcripts  and  abstracts  of  documents  in  the  British  Public 
Record  Office  relating  to  Virginia. 

PRINTED  SOURCES 

1.  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council  of  England,  Colonial  Series.    Edited 

by  W.  L.  Grant  and  J.  Munro.     1613-1783.    Hereford,  1908- 
1912. 

2.  Acts  of  Parliament,  1757-1763.    29  George  II,  c.  29;  30  George 

II,  c.  26;  32  George  II,  c.  36;  33  George  II,  c.  18;  i  George 

III,  c.  19;  2  George  III,  c.  34;  3  George  III,  c.  17. 

3.  Bassett,  J.  S.,  ed.     The  Writings  of  "  Colonel  William  Byrd  of 

Westover,  in  Virginia,  Esquir*."     New  York,  1901. 

4.  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Colonial  Series,  America  and  West 

Indies,  1574-1703.    London,  1860-1912. 

5.  Calendar  of  Treasury  Books,  1660-1675.    Edited  by  W.  A.  Shaw. 

London,  1904-1913. 

6.  Calendar  of  Treasury  Papers,  1557-1728.    Edited  by  J.  Reding- 

ton.    London,  1868-1889. 

7.  Calendar  of  Treasury  Books  and  Papers,   1729-1745.    London, 

1897-1900. 

8.  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers.    Edited  by  W.  P.  Palmer. 

Richmond,  1875. 

9.  Hening,  W.  W.    Statutes  at  Large;  being  a  Collection  of  all  the 

Laws  of  Virginia.     13  vols.     Philadelphia  and  New  York,  1819- 
1823. 


86  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION   OF  [262 

10.  Journals  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia,  169571776.     11 

vols.    Edited  by  H.  R.  Mcllwaine  and  J.  P.  Kennedy.    Rich- 
mond, 1906-1913. 

11.  Official  Letters  of  Alexander  Spotswood,  1710-1722.    Collections 

of  the  Virginia  Historical  Society,  new  series,  vols,  i,  ii. 

12.  Official  Records  of  Robert  Dinwiddie,  1751-1758.    Collections  of 

the  Virginia  Historical  Society,  new  series,  vols,  iii,  iv. 

13.  The  Virginia  Gazette,  1736-1737,  1738-1739. 

14.  Virginia  Historical  Register  and  Literary  Note  Book.    6  vols. 

William  Maxwell.     Richmond,  1848. 

15.  Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography.     17  vols. 

16.  William  and  Mary  College  Quarterly.    17  vols. 

ROYAL  COMMISSIONS  AND  INSTRUCTIONS  TO  THE 
GOVERNORS! 

1.  Aug.  26,  1624.    To  Sir  Francis  Wyatt,  Commission  (Rymer,  vol. 

xvii,  p.  618). 

2.  Mar.  4,  1625/6.    To  Sir  George  Yeardley,  Commission  (Rymer, 

vol.  xviii,  p.  311). 

3.  Apr.  19,  1626.    To  Sir  George  Yeardley,  Instructions  (Virginia 

Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  ii,  p.  393). 

4.  Mar.  22,   1627/8.    To   Sir  John  Harvey,  Commission    (Rymer, 

vol.  xviii,  p.  980). 

5.  Jan.  5,   1637.    To  Sir  John  Harvey,  Instructions   (C.  O.  i:  9, 

no.  33). 

6.  Jan.   II,    1639.    To  Sir  Francis   Wyatt,   Commission    (Virginia 

Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  xi,  p.  50). 

7.  Jan.  — ,    1639.    To   Sir   Francis   Wyatt,   Instructions    (Virginia 

Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  xi,  p.  54). 

8.  Aug.  9,   1641.     To  Sir  William  Berkeley,  Commission    (Rymer, 

vol.  XX,  p.  484). 

9.  Aug.  — ,    1641.    To   Sir  William   Berkeley,  Instructions    (Vir- 

ginia Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  ii,  p.  281). 

10.  Sept.  12,  1662.     To  Sir  William  Berkeley,  Instructions  (Virginia 

Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  iii,  p.  15). 

11.  Oct.  13,  1676.    To  Sir  William  Berkeley,  Additional  Instructions 

(Hening,  vol.  ii,  p.  424). 

12.  Nov.  7,  1676.    To  Captain  Herbert  Jeflfreys,  Commission  (C.  O. 

389:  6,  121). 

13.  Nov.  II,  1676.    To  Captain  Herbert  Jeffreys,  Instructions  (C.  O. 

5:  I3SS,  122). 

14.  Dec.  6,  1679.    To  Thomas,  Lord  Culpeper,  Commission  (Hening, 

vol.  ii,  p.  565). 

15.  Dec.  6,  1679.    To  Thomas,  Lord  Culpeper,  Instructions   (C.  O. 

5:  1355,  326). 

16.  Dec.  7,  1679.    To  Thomas,  Lord  Culpeper,  Additional  Instruc- 

tions (c.  o.  5: 1355,  404). 

17.  Jan.  27,  1682.    To  Thomas,  Lord  Culpeper,  Instructions  (C.  O. 

5:  1356,  30). 

1  The  commission  granted  to  the  governor  on  his  appointment  and 
the  instructions  concerning  revenue  and  finance  are  here  mentioned. 
The  complete  lists  of  commissions  and  of  formal,  additional,  and 
circular  instructions  will  be  given  in  a  monograph  on  the  Royal 
Government  in  Virginia,  which  it  is  my  purpose  to  publish  later. 


263]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  8/ 

18.  Dec.  IS,  1682.    To  Thomas,  Lord  Culpeper,  Instructions  (C.  O. 

389:  8,  186). 

19.  Sept.  28,  1683.    To  Francis,  Lord  Howard,  Commission  (C.  O. 

5:  1356,  188). 

20.  Oct.  24,  1683.    To  Francis,  Lord  Howard,  Instructions  (C.  O.  5 : 

1356,  205). 

21.  Dec.  3,   1683.    To  Francis,  Lord  Howard,  Additional  Instruc- 

tions (C.  O.  S:  1356,  265). 

22.  Aug.  30,  1685.    To  Francis,  Lord  Howard,  Instructions  (C.  O. 

5:  1357,  20). 

23.  Apr.  3,  1687.    To  Francis,  Lord  Howard,  Instructions  (C.  O.  5: 

1357,  120). 

24.  Oct.  9,  1690.    To  Francis,  Lord  Howard,  Instructions  (C.  O.  5: 

1357,  319)- 

25.  Nov.  14,   1689.    To  Francis  Nicholson,  Commission   (C.  O.  5: 

1357,  302). 

26.  Jan.  2,  1690.    To  Francis  Nicholson,  Instructions  (C  O.  5 :  1357. 

304)- 

27.  Mar.  I,  1692.    To  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  Commission  (C.  O.  5: 

1358,  107). 

28.  Mar.  7,  1692.    To  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  Instructions  (C.  O.  324: 

22,  463). 

29.  Oct.  7,  1692.    To  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  Additional  Instructions 

(C.  O.  5:  1358,  157). 

30.  July  20,  1698.    To  Francis  Nicholson,  Commission  (C.  O.  5:  1359, 

210). 

31.  Sept.    13,    1698.    To   Francis   Nicholson,   Instructions    (Virginia 

Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,  vol.  iv,  p.  49). 

32.  Sept.  20,  1698.     To  Francis  Nicholson,  Additional  Instructions 

(C.  O.  324:  25,81). 

33.  Nov.   10,  1698.    To  Francis  Nicholson,  Additional  Instructions 

(C.  O.  324:  26,  231). 

34.  May   18,   1699.    To  Francis  Nicholson,  Additional  Instructions 

(c  o.  5: 1359, 314). 

35.  July  I,  1699.    To  Francis  Nicholson,  Additional  Instructions  (C. 

O.  5:  1310,  no.  2). 

36.  Dec.   12,   1702.    To  Francis  Nicholson,  Additional  Instructions 

(C.  O.  5:  188,  no.  12). 

37.  Dec.  17,  1702.    To  Francis  Nicholson,  Trade  Instructions  (C.  O. 

5:  188,  no.  11). 

38.  Apr.  25,  1705.    To  Edward  Nott,  Commission   (C.  O.  5:  1361, 

81). 

39.  Apr.  30,  1705.    To  Edward  Nott,  Instructions   (C  O.  5:   1361, 

120). 

40.  Apr.  30,  1705.    To  Edward  Nott,  Trade  Instructions  (C.  O.  5: 

1361,  368). 

41.  Apr.  22,  1707.    To  Robert  Hunter,  Commission  (C.  O.  5 :  1362, 

124). 

42.  Apr.  22,  1707.    To  Robert  Hunter,  Instructions  (C.  O.  5:  1362, 

141). 

43.  Apr.  22,  1707.    To  Robert  Hunter,  Trade  Instructions  (C.  O.  5 : 

1362,  193). 

44.  Nov.  15,  1707.    To  Edmund  Jennings  (President  of  the  Council), 

Additional  Instructions  (C.  O.  5:  1362,  265). 

45.  Dec.  22,  1709.     To  Earl  of  Orkney,  Commission  (C.  O.  5 :   1363, 3). 


88  FINANCIAL   ADMINISTRATION    OF  [264 

46.  Feb.  23,  1710.    To  Earl  of  Orkney,  Instructions  (C.  O.  5'  1363, 

45). 

47.  Mar.  I,  1710.    To  Earl  of  Orkney,  Trade  Instructions  (C.  O.  5: 

1363,  128). 

48.  Apr.  15,  1715.    To  Earl  of  Orkney,  Instructions  (C.  O.  5:  190, 

128). 

49.  Apr.  15,  1715.    To  Earl  of  Orkney,  Trade  Instructions  (C.  O.  5: 

190,  177). 
so.  June  I,  1722.    To  Earl  of  Orkney,  Additional  Instructions  (C.  O. 
324:  34,  136). 

51.  Mar.  22,  1728.    To  Earl  of  Orkney,  Instructions  (C.  O.  5:  I93. 

497)- 

52.  Mar.  22,  1728.    To  Earl  of  Orkney,  Trade  Instructions  (C.  O.  5: 

193,  545)- 

53.  Oct.  16,  1733.    To  Earl  of  Orkney,  Additional  Instructions  (C. 

O.  s:  1366,  115). 

54.  Nov.  30,  1733.    To  Earl  of  Orkney,  Additional  Instructions  (C. 

O.  324:  36,  447). 

55.  Mar.  14,  1735.    To  Earl  of  Orkney,  Additional  Instructions  (C. 

O.  5:  1366,  124). 

56.  Apr.  4,  1735.    To  Earl  of  Orkney,  Additional  Instructions  (C.  O. 

5:  196,  no). 

57.  Apr.  28,  1715.     To  Alexander  Spotswood,  Commission  (C.  O.  5: 

190,  280). 

58.  Apr.  3,  1722.    To  Hugh  Drysdale,  Commission  (C.  O.  324:  34, 

112). 

59.  Jan.  23,  1727.    To  William  Gooch,  Commission  (C.  O.  5:  1365, 

308). 

60.  Dec.  13,  1748.    To  William  Gooch,  Additional  Instructions   (C. 

O.  5:  1366,  422). 

61.  Oct.  6,  1737.    To  Earl  of  Albemarle,  Commission  (C.  O.  5 :  196, 

228). 

62.  Jan.  12,  1738.    To  Earl  of  Albemarle,  Instructions  (C.  O.  5:  196, 

249). 

63.  Jan.  12,  1738.    To  Earl  of  Albemarle,  Trade  Instructions  (C.  O. 

5:  196,  317). 

64.  June  18,  1 741.    To  Earl  of  Albemarle,  Additional  Instructions 

(CO.  5:  1366,335). 

65.  Aug.  27,  1754.    To  Earl  of  Albemarle,  Additional  Instructions 

(C.  O.  5:  1367,  118). 

66.  July  4,  1751.     To  Robert  Dinwiddie,  Commission  (C.  O.  324:  38, 

287). 

67.  Mar.  17,  1756.    To  Earl  of  Loudoun,  Instructions  (C.  O.  5 :  1367, 

179)- 

68.  Feb.  10,  1758.    To  Francis  Fauquier,  Commission  (C.  O.  324:  38, 

496). 

69.  Aug.  30,  1759.    To  Francis  Fauquier,  Additional  Instructions  (C. 

O.  5:  1367,  386). 

70.  Mar.  4,  1761.    To  Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst,  Commission  (C.  O.  5: 

1368,  23). 

71.  Mar.  27,  1761.    To  Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst,  Instructions  (C.  O.  5: 

1368.  78). 

72.  June  18,  1766.    To  Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst,  Additional  Instructions 

(C.  O.  5:  1336,  169). 


265]  THE   COLONY  OF  VIRGINIA  89 

73-  July  IS.  '^y(i(>-    To  Sir  Jeflfrey  Amherst,  Additional  Instructions 
(C.  O.  324:  41,  273). 

74.  Aug.  3,  1768.    To  Baron  de  Botetourt,  Commission   (C.  O.  5^ 

1375,  22). 

75.  Aug.  3,  1768.    To  Baron  de  Botetourt,  Instructions  (C.  O.  5' 

1368,  405). 
"jt.  Aug.  3,  1768.    To  Baron  de  Botetourt,  Trade  Instructions  (C.  O. 

S:  1368,  491). 
Tj.  Aug.  21,  1768.    To  Baron  de  Botetourt,  Additional  Instructions 

(C.  O.  5:  1346.  153). 

78.  Dec.  5,   1770.    To  Baron  de  Botetourt,  Additional  Instructions 

(CO.  5: 1336,419). 

79.  Dec.  10,  1770.    To  Baron  de  Botetourt,  Additional  Instructions 

(C.  O.  5:  26,  28s). 

80.  Dec.  21,  1770.    To  Earl  of  Dunmore,  Commission  (C.  O.  5:  1379, 

129). 

81.  Feb.  7,  1771.     To  Earl  of  Dunmore,  Instructions  (Collections  of 

the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  series  4,  vol.  x,  p.  630). 

82.  Feb.  7,  1771.    To  Earl  of  Dunmore,  Trade  Instructions  (Collec- 

tions of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  series  4,  vol.  x, 
p.  667). 

83.  Feb.  4, 1772.    To  Earl  of  Dunmore,  Additional  Instructions  (Col- 

lections of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  series  4,  vol. 
X,  p.  690). 

84.  Nov.  24,  1773.    To  Earl  of  Dunmore,  Additional  Instructions  (C. 

0.5:74,374). 

85.  Feb.  3,  1774.    To  Earl  of  Dunmore,  Additional  Instructions  (C. 

O.  5:  242,  2). 

SECONDARY  WORKS 

I.  Andrews,  C.  M.  British  Committees,  Commissions,  and  Councils 
of  Trade  and  Plantations,  1622-1675.  Johns  Hopkins  Univer- 
sity Studies,  series  xxvi,  nos.  1-3. 

2. .    Colonial  Self-Government,  1652-1689.    American  Nation 

series,  vol.  v. 

3.  Anson,  Sir  W.  R.    The  Law  and  Custom  of  the  Constitution. 

2  vols.    Oxford,  1886. 

4.  Beer,  G.  L.    British  Colonial  Policy,  1754-1765.    New  York,  1907. 
5. .     The  Origins  of  the  British  Colonial  System,  1578-1660. 

New  York,  1908. 

6.  Beverley,    R.     The   History    of   Virginia.     Reprinted    from   the 

author's  2d  rev.  ed.,  London,  1722.     Richmond,  1855. 

7.  Bruce,  P.  A.    Economic  History  of  Virginia  in  the  Seventeenth 

Century.    2  vols.     New  York,  1896. 

8.  Campbell,  C.     History  of  the  Colony  and  Ancient  Dominion  of 

Virginia.     Philadelphia,  i860. 

9.  Greene,  E.  B.     Provincial  America,  1690-1740.    American  Nation 

series,  vol.  vi. 

10.  H.    Hartwell,   J.   Blair,   and   E.   Chilton.    An   Account   of   the 

Present  State  and  Government  of  Virginia.    London,  circa 
1698. 

11.  Jones,  H.  The  Present  State  of  Virginia.    London,  1724. 

12.  Rymer,  T.  Foedera.     Second  edition.     London,  1727-1735-     Vol. 


90  FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION  OF  [266 

13.  Sioussat,  St.  G.  L,    Virginia  and  the  English  Commercial  Sys- 

tem.   Report  of  the  American  Historical  Association,  1905, 
vol.  i. 

14.  Stanard,  W.  G.  and  M.  N.    The  Colonial  Virginia  Register.    Al- 

bany, 1902. 

15.  Webb,  G.    The  Office  and  Authority  of  a  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Williamsburg,  1736. 


INDEX 


Abercromby,  James,  yd. 

Accomac,  j,Z- 

Agent  of  House  of  Burgesses, 
48  n. 

Albany,  T^. 

Albany  Congress,  JZ- 

Albemarle,  Earl  of,  62. 

Amherst,  Sir  Jeffrey,  "jy. 

Armorer,  10. 

Assembly,  acts  of,  to  prevent 
fraud,  19,  28,  44,  53;  office  of 
register  established  by,  22 ;  cus- 
toms officials  appointed  by,  22, 
23 ;  fees  of  revenue  officials 
specified  by,  32;  form  of  writ 
of  assistance  determined  by, 
33;  auditorship  established  by 
act  of,  ZT,  value  of  current 
money  fixed  by,  43;  report  of 
treasurer  approved  by,  49;  pi- 
lots established  by,  54;  pilots' 
fees  fixed  by,  55;  rates  of 
postage  fixed  by,  56 ;  memorial 
of,  64;  mihtary  appropriations 
made  by,  69-78. 

Attorney-general  of  England, 
opinion  of,  as  to  writs  of  as- 
sistance, 33. 

Attorney-general,  salary  of,  10, 
12,  13,  14;  applied  to  for  writs 
of  assistance,  ZZ- 

Auditor-general,  salary  of,  10, 
42;  report  of,  on  quit-rents, 
17;  collectors'  accounts  ex- 
amined by,  27;  naval  officers' 
accounts  examined  by,  31 ;  re- 
port of  treasurer  to,  49;  audi- 
tor appointed  by,  60;  report 
of,  68. 

Auditor,  salary  of,  10,  13,  40-41 ; 
collectors'  accounts  examined 
by,  27;  naval  officers'  accounts 
examined  by,  31 ;  appointment 
of,  Z7\  power  of  governor 
over,  Z7',  relations  of,  with 
auditor-general  and  lords  of 
the  treasury,  38,  39;  qualifica- 


tions of,  38;  duties  of,  38-40; 
fraud  of,  38,  40;  accounts  of, 
sworn  to,  39;  accounts  of,  re- 
ported to  House  of  Burgesses, 
39. 
Ayleway,  Robert,  38  n. 

Bacon,  Nathaniel,  Sr.,  38  n. 

Bahama  Islands,  34. 

Barbadoes,  70. 

Bembo,  Admiral,  70. 

Bland,  Giles,  80. 

Blathwayt,  William,  10  n.,  38,  68. 

Board  of  Admiralty,  61. 

Board  of  Trade,  quit-rents  re- 
ported to,  17;  irregularities 
of  collectors  reported  to,  27; 
complaint  of  naval  officers 
against  governor  reported  to, 
28;  Privy  Council  confers 
with,  34;  surveyor-general  re- 
ports to,  34-35;  report  of 
Fauquier  to,  36;  report  of 
Nicholson  to,  38;  report  of 
Spotswood  to,  55 ;  report  of, 
to  Parliament,  64;  Nicholson 
praised  by,  78;  report  of,  on 
Virginia,  80;  petition  of  mer- 
chants to,  59,  65,  67;  report  of 
Dinwiddie  to,  75;  expenses 
estimated  by,  "j^i. 

Botetourt,  Baron  de,  67. 

Braddock,  General  Edward,  yt. 

Byrd,  William,  38  n.,  41,  60. 

Canada,  72,  JZ- 
Cape  Breton,  yz- 
Cape  Henry,  55,  59. 
Carthagena,  71. 

Castle   duty,   collection   and  ap- 
propriation of,  lO-II. 
Cathcart,  Lord,  72. 
Chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  48. 
Charles  I,  69. 
Charles  II,  58. 
Charles  City  County,  60. 
Chicheley,  Sir  Henry,  80. 


91 


92 


INDEX 


[268 


Collectors,  power  of  governor 
over,  24;  oath  and  bond  of, 
24;  number  of,  24;  districts 
of,  24;  office  of,  controlled 
by  Council,  24-25 ;  fraud  of, 
25-28;  duties  of,  25-26;  depu- 
ties of,  25 ;  salary  and  fees  of, 
26;  accounts  of,  sworn  to,  27; 
accounts  of,  examined  by  Brit- 
ish officials,  27;  application  of, 
for  writs  of  assistance,  33. 

Commissary,  salary  of,  12, 13, 14. 

Commissioners  of  the  customs, 
collector  appointed  and  cus- 
toms regulated  by,  23;  col- 
lectors' accounts  examined  by, 
27;  irregularities  of  collectors 
reported  to,  27;  naval  officers' 
accounts  examined  by,  31 ; 
writs  of  assistance  authorized 
by,  33 ',  surveyor-general  of  the 
customs  subject  to,  34-35;  es- 
tablishing of  searchers  ap- 
proved by,  36. 

Comptroller-general  of  accounts, 
27. 

Comptrollers  of  the  customs,  ap- 
pointment of,  32;  duties  of, 
32-33 ;  salary  and  fees  of,  32- 
33',  on  James  River,  33;  on 
Eastern  Shore,  33;  application 
of,  for  writs  of  assistance,  33. 

Connecticut,  68  n.,  76  n.,  77. 

Constables,  evasion  of  revenue 
duties  prevented  by,  44,  54. 

Council,  salary  of,  10;  salary  of 
clerk  of,  10;  offices  of  naval 
officer  and  collector  controlled 
by,  24,  25,  29;  offices  of  naval 
officer  and  collector  not  held 
by,  32;  naval  officer  instructed 
by.  31 ;  governor  assisted  by, 
in  executive  matters,  27, 31,32, 
36,  40,  49  n.,  54,  60;  fraud  of, 
32,  40;  report  of  auditor  ex- 
amined by,  38,  39;  value  of 
current  money  certified  to  by, 
43;  address  to  king,  75. 

County  levy,  collection  and  ap- 
propriation, 20. 

Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  34. 

Crown  Point,  76. 

Culpeper,  Lord,  11  n.,  39,  61. 

Diggs,  Dudley,  41. 
Diggs,  Edward,  23. 


Dinwiddle,  Robert,  estimate  of 
evasion  of  quit-rents,  17 ;  mem- 
ber of  Council,  34;  adminis- 
tration of,  40;  complaint  of, 
as  to  speaker-treasurer,  48,  49 
n. ;  letters  of,  61,  77;  report 
of,  as  to  ships,  63;  royal  ap- 
propriations sent  to,  74-75; 
revenues  of  colony  estimated 
by,  79. 

Dunmore,  Earl  of,  61. 

Duty,  two  shillings  per  hogs- 
head, collection  and  appro- 
priation of,  9,  10,  42,  61,  75, 
79;  deficit  in,  13;  evasion  of, 
17;  treasurer  of,  42. 

Eastern  Shore,  33,  36. 
Edenton,  North  Carolina,  58. 

Fauquier,  Francis,  report  of,  on 
conditions  in  colony,  36  n.,  41 
n.,  44;  opinion  of,  on  paper 
money,  64,  67;  letter  of  Gen- 
eral Amherst  to,  77. 

Fines  and  forfeitures,  for  breach 
of  penal  law,  contempt  of 
court,  felony,  trespass,  11,  42. 

France,  73. 

Fraud,  regarding  quit-rents,  17; 
report  of  Dinwiddie  as  to,  17; 
evasion  of  two  shillings  per 
hogshead  revenue,  17;  false 
entries  by  shipmasters,  17;  du- 
ties on  liquors  evaded,  17; 
revenue  officials  guilty  of,  17; 
report  of  Council  to  Board  of 
Trade  regarding,  18;  instruc- 
tions to  governor  to  prevent, 
18;  acts  of  Assembly  to  pre- 
vent, 19,  28,  44,  48,  53. 

French  and  Indian  War,  ex- 
penses of  and  appropriations 
for,  49,  52,  62,  65,  67,  73<  74, 
75 ;  appropriations  for,  by  Par- 
liament, 77-7S. 

French  prisoners,  31. 

General  court,  33,  34,  42. 

Georgia,  72. 

Gooch,  William,  letter  of,  to 
Board  of  Trade,  64;  took  part 
in  expedition  to  Carthagena, 
71 ;  dechned  command  in  Ca- 
nadian campaign,  73;  trade  of 
colony  estimated  by,  79. 


269] 


INDEX 


93 


Governor,  salary  of,  10,  68-69; 
rent  of  house  for,  10;  quit- 
rent  account  examined  by,  13; 
fraud  in  revenues  prevented 
byi  17;  power  of,  over  col- 
lectors, 24 ;  collectors'  accounts 
examined  by,  27 ;  naval  officers' 
accounts  examined  by,  31 ;  re- 
port of  auditor  examined  by, 
38,  39;  auditor  instructed  by, 
to  sell  quit-rent  tobacco,  40. 

Grenville,  Earl  of,  61. 

Grymes,  John,  60. 

Gunner  at  Jamestown,  salary  of, 


Hamilton,  Andrew,  55. 

Hampton  Roads,  55. 

Hanbury,  C,  61. 

Hanbury,  John,  61,  75. 

Hawley,  Jerome,  22. 

Heyman,  Peter,  55. 

House  of  Burgesses,  petition  of 
comptrollers  of  the  customs 
to,  32;  treasurer  appointed  by, 
47,  48,  50;  inspectors  of  to- 
bacco ineligible  to  member- 
ship in,  S3 ;  address  of,  to  gov- 
ernor, 70. 

Howard,  Lord,  report  of,  on 
revenues,  79. 

Indians,  defense  against,  68-69, 
70,  71,  73- 

Inspectors  of  tobacco,  appoint- 
ment of,  51;  number  of,  51; 
duties  of,  51-52;  bond  of,  52; 
salary  of,  52;  notes  issued  by, 
52 ;  inehgible  to  House,  53 ; 
fraud  of,  S3 ;  to  cooperate  with 
naval  officers,  54. 

Jamaica,  34,  70,  71,  72. 

James  River,  revenue  officers  on, 

28,  33,  36,  55. 
Justices  of  the  peace,  evasion  of 

revenue   duties   prevented   by, 

44,  54- 

Kemp,  Richard,  22. 
Knight,  Sir  John,  80. 

Land,  right  of  taking  up,  11,  42; 
escheated,  11,  12,  42;  patents 
recorded  in  auditor's  office,  40. 

Leeward  Islands,  70. 


Liquors,  duty  on,  collection  and 
appropriation  of,  15-16;  eva- 
sion of  duty,  17,  45;  collectors 
of  duty,  45;  duties  and  salary 
of  collectors,  45. 

London,  57  n.,  58,  59. 

London  Company,  47. 

Lords  of  the  treasury,  power  of, 
over  collectors,  23 ;  surveyor- 
general  of  customs  subject  to, 
34;  power  of,  over  receiver- 
general,  41 ;  report  of,  on 
postal  affairs,  58;  petition  to, 
regarding  auditor^s  salary,  60. 

Ludwell,  Philip,  60. 

Lynnhaven  Bay,  36,  55. 

Maryland,  34,  46,  SO,  54,  55,  59, 
68  n.,  73,  76  n. 

Massachusetts,  68  n.,  76  n.,  77. 

Merchants,  English,  influence  of, 
with  British  government,  58- 
59;  influence  of  Micajah 
Perry,  59-61 ;  of  J.  and  C. 
Hanbury,  61 ;  interest  of,  in 
slave  trade,  61-63 ',  complaint 
of,  regarding  certain  exemp- 
tions to  Virginia-owned  ves- 
sels, 63 ;  tobacco  planters'  peti- 
tion against,  64;  controversy 
with,  regarding  paper  money, 
64-67. 

Military  affairs,  colony  defends 
itself,  69,  70,  75;  aid  furnished 
other  colonies,  69,  70,  71,  73, 
74;  cooperates  in  offensive 
war,  71,  72,  73. 

Minister  attending  assembly,  sal- 
ary of,  ID. 

Money,  colonial  and  sterling, 
43 ;  foreign,  43  n. 

Naval  officers,  appointment  of, 
28;  power  of  governor  over, 
28;  authority  of  commission- 
ers of  the  customs  over,  28; 
relations  of,  with  Board  of 
Trade,  28;  monopoly  of  offices 
by  Council,  29;  number  of,  29; 
salary  and  fees  of,  10,  29-30; 
duties  of,  30-31 ;  accounts 
sworn  to,  31 ;  naval  officers 
not  councillors,  32;  fraud  of, 
32. 

Neal,  Thomas,  55-57- 

New  England,  56,  70. 


94 


INDEX 


[270 


New  Hampshire,  68  n.,  76  n. 

New  Jersey,  55,  68  n.,  7z,  1^  n. 

New  York,  57  n.,  60,  68,  69-71, 
IZ,  7(>  n. 

Newcastle,  Duke  of,  6^,  64  n.,  79. 

Niagara,  76. 

Nicholson,  Francis,  serves  as  au- 
ditor, 27',  report  of,  to  Board 
of  Trade,  38;  lifts  debt  of 
colony,  78. 

Noell,  Martin,  58. 

North  Carolina,  31,  34,  46,  54, 
58,  61,  71,  76,  76  n. 

Nova  Scotia,  76. 

Parish  levy,  collection  and  ap- 
propriation of,  20. 

Parliament,  56,  67,  76. 

Passengers,  duty  on,  collection 
and  appropriation  of,  16. 

Pennsylvania,  34,  68  n.,  72,  76  n. 

Perry,  Micajah,  59-60. 

Perry,  Richard,  60. 

Philadelphia,  58. 

Pilots,  appointment,  duties,  and 
salary  of,  54. 

Pistole  fee,  imposition  and  col- 
lection of,  17,  48  n. 

Pitt,  William,  75,  77. 

Plantation  duty,  collection  of, 
15;  appropriation  of,  15,  27; 
treasurer  of,  42. 

Port  duty,  collection  and  appro- 
priation of,  II,  42. 

Postal  system,  objection  to,  55- 
56;  rates  of  postage,  56;  criti- 
cism of,  57-58. 

Postmaster,  appointment  of,  55; 
criticism  of,  57. 

Postmaster-general  of  England, 
55,  58. 

Potomac  River,  28,  55. 

Povey,  Thomas,  58. 

Privy  Council,  34. 

Prize  ships,  42. 

Public  levy,  imposition,  collec- 
tion, and  appropriation  of,  19. 

Quary,  Robert,  36. 

Quit-rents,  amount  of,  11;  how 
paid,  12;  collection  of,  12-13; 
disbursement  of,  13,  42,  43; 
used  for  current  expenses,  13, 
14;  remitted  to  British  ex- 
chequer, 12,  14;  appropriation 
of,    for    expense    of    Indian 


treaties,  14-15;  evasion  of,  17; 
report  of  Dinwiddie  on,  17; 
sale  of  quit-rent  tobacco,  39- 
40;  receiver-general  as  treas- 
urer of,  42;  disbursement  of, 
49,  70,  78,  80. 

Randolph,  Peyton,  48  n. 

Randolph,  Sir  John,  64  n. 

Rappahannock  River,  11  n.,  55. 

Receiver-general,  account  of  two 
shillings  per  hogshead  reve- 
nue, 10;  salary  of,  10,  13,  43; 
account  of  quit-rents,  12;  col- 
lectors' accounts  examined  by, 
27 ;  naval  officers'  accounts  ex- 
amined by,  31 ;  criticism  of, 
41 ;  appointment  of,  41 ;  bond 
of,  41,  60;  responsible  to  lords 
of  treasury,  41 ;  deputy  of,  41 ; 
councillors  serve  as,  42;  du- 
ties of,  42;  disbursement  of 
quit-rents  by,  70. 

Rhode  Island,  68  n.,  76  n. 

Robinson,  John,  48. 

Royal  African  Company  of  Eng- 
land, 62. 

Searchers,  appointment  and  du- 
ties of,  36. 

Servants,  duty  on,  16,  47. 

Sewell's  Point,  55. 

Shaftsbury,  Earl  of,  80. 

Sheriffs,  salary  of,  13;  quit-rent 
tobacco  collected  by,  40;  fines 
collected  by,  42 ;  to  prevent 
evasion  of  revenue  duties,  44, 
46,  54. 

Shipmasters,  fraud  of,  17,  27,  46; 
bond  of,  26  n. ;  passes  to  pre- 
vent seizure  of  ships  issued  to, 
26;  granted  permission  to  load 
ships,  30;  letters  carried  by, 
57;  castle  duty  paid  by,  lo-ii; 
fees  paid  by,  26  n.,  30  n. 

Ships,  number  of,  63. 

Shirley,  Governor,  72. 

Skins  and  furs,  duty  on,  15,  44; 
collections  of  duty,  15 ;  eva- 
sion of  duty,  44;  appropria- 
tion of  duty,  15,  44;  collectors 
of  duty,  44. 

Slaves,  duty  on,  16;  collection 
and  appropriation  of,  16,  45- 
46;  duties  and  salary  of  col- 
lectors, 45-46;  importation  of, 


2/1] 


INDEX 


95 


aided  by  British  government, 
62;  objection  to,  raised  by  col- 
onists, 62. 

Smith's  Point,  55. 

SoHcitor  of  Virginia  affairs,  sal- 
ary of,  ID,  13,  14,  42,  59;  reim- 
bursed, 59;  estimate  of  ex- 
penses of  colony,  76. 

South  Carolina,  34,  71,  yz,  76. 

Spaniards,  71,  y2. 

Spanish  prisoners,  31. 

Spotswood,  Alexander,  55,  57, 
78. 

Stegg,  Thomas,  yj- 

Surveyor-general  of  the  cus- 
toms, authority  of,  over  col- 
lectors, 23;  fraud  in  revenues 
prevented  by,  27;  appointment 
of,  34,  35;  jurisdiction  of,  34; 
member  of  Council,  34;  duties 
of,  35,  Z^',  salary  of,  36,  y?', 
appointment   of    searcher    ap- 


proved by,  36;  report  of,  63, 
79. 

Tithables,  number  of,  20-21. 

Tobacco,  quantity  exported,  50; 
warehouses  for,  50,  51;  peti- 
tion of  planters  of,  64. 

Treasurer,  appointment  of,  22, 
47-48;  duties  of,  42,  45-46,  48, 
49;  report  to  auditor-general, 
49;  salary  of,  49-SO. 

Wealth  and  importance  of  Vir- 
ginia, 68,  69,  79,  80. 

West  Indies,  46,  59,  70-72. 

William  and  Mary  College,  15, 
^7,  44,  45- 

Williamsburg,  57  n.,  58. 

Williamson,  Sir  Joseph,  80. 

Writs  of  assistance,  33. 

York  County,  60. 
York  River,  36,  55. 


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AchieTementi,"  etc 

Four  Lectures  Delivered  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University 
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218  Pages.         Crown  8vo.    Cloth.        Price,  $1.50 


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democracy  and  imperialism  give  a  dominant  impress  to  successive 
periods,  yet  expansion  has  characterized  the  entire  course  of 
American  history.  The  misapprehension  so  vridely  entertained? 
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THE  HAGUE  PEACE  CONFERENCES  OF 
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